From Old for Old

As many people are contemplating moving into a new age group next year and all of us are faced with the march of time, it never hurts to have some words of wisdom.

Some of these you may already do, others you’ve thought about doing. If you are in my age group, I suggest you do the opposite of all of these, of course. Here is my Letterman like top 11 list for you to ponder.

1. Train at the fitness level you currently possess, not the one you want to possess.

2. Know when to say when. If your buddies are doing 5×1 mile on the track and you realize 4×1 mile is the smarter option for you, then do 4×1 mile and not the fifth repeat. When they are riding four hours and you’ve got the fitness for 3, turning back is a smart option.

3. Seven runs over six days may be smarter then seven runs in seven days.

4. If you are going to run 7 days, running for only 20min one of those days is a good idea.

5. Schedule your runs so you get 36 hours between a couple of them. ie. Monday morning and Tuesday evening. Do the same thing with your harder workouts.

6. Compression socks/tights are fugly, wearing them in public is uncalled for, even if you are at a race. But I now wear them for recovery just about every evening, in the privacy of my own home. Not in public with shorts on, which is just uncalled for. Your legs may be ripped and look good, but not good enough to over come compression socks and shorts. Sometimes I even sleep with them on.

7. It’s a lot easier to get fit/stay fit/ and do it without aches and pains when you are consistent with your training. Day in day out beats being a hero one day and a zero the next three.

8. Put down the dessert. And the extra helpings. Keeping extra weight off is easier then taking extra weight off

9. There is nothing wrong with the occasional protein drink, especially after long and/or hard workouts. But drink one after every workout and I bet you don’t lose your extra weight.

10. Walk your dog. Everyday. Even if it’s just a mile. Your dog will appreciate it, trust me. It took me about four months to figure out why I gained then had trouble losing a couple of extra kilos. Both of my dogs had passed away and I was not walking 7-15 miles per week. In the 12 years I had dogs, I figured out that we walked over 5,000 miles together. Besides being awesome dog/owner bonding time, that was an extra 50,000+ calories burned. Or put another way, about 150 pounds in 12 years that I expended walking my dogs.

11. A beer a night is good, sometimes maybe even two. A 6 or 12 pack a night or a bottle of wine, well, probably not the best idea you’ll ever have.

There you go, my top 11 common sense things to think about, unless you happen to be in the M40-44 AG. Then have your 12 pack, don’t worry about recovery and eat extra dessert.