Running Over 50: The Complete Guide

Running over 50 is good for you, and yes, you can keep getting faster. But not by training the way you did at 30. The runners I see thriving in their 50s, 60s and beyond run three or four days a week instead of six or seven, make recovery a priority, do strength training at least twice a week, keep their easy runs genuinely easy and judge themselves against their age, not their younger selves.

They say age is just a number. It isn’t, not completely. Your body does change after 50, and pretending otherwise is how good runners end up injured. But it is a number you can train around, and the evidence that you can keep improving is stronger than most people think.

When researchers looked at 30 years of New York City Marathon results, the best men over 65 and the best women over 45 kept getting faster, decade after decade, according to a study by Romuald Lepers and Thomas Cattagni reported by France’s national health research institute, Inserm. Older runners are not hitting a wall. Most of them are just training for the body they used to have.

Two roads into your 50s

How you approach running over 50 depends on which of two roads you are on. The principles are the same, but the starting point is not.

You have been running for years and have noticed that what used to work no longer does. You are slower, you take longer to bounce back and the niggles hang around.
You are starting running at 50, 60 or beyond, or coming back after a long break.

If you are on the first road, your biggest challenge is usually letting go of how you used to train. If you are on the second, your biggest challenge is patience. I cover both below, and if you are just starting out, my guide to starting running in your 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond goes into more detail.

My 7 rules for running over 50

Here is the cheat sheet. Pin it somewhere you will see it every week:

Run less, recover more.
Strength training is non-negotiable.
Keep your easy runs easy.
Use your speed or lose it.
Respect the warning signs.
Fuel your muscles and protect your bones.
Measure yourself against your age, not your 30-year-old self.

I go through each rule below, after a quick look at whether running is good for you after 50 and what actually changes in your body. Then I cover cross-training, sleep and racing long distances after 50.

Is running over 50 good for you?

Yes. Running is one of the best things you can do for your health at any age, and you do not need huge amounts of it to benefit.

A meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that running was associated with a 27% lower risk of death from any cause, a 30% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and a 23% lower risk of death from cancer, compared with not running. The authors concluded that any amount of running, even just once a week, is better than none.

Many people think getting older means cutting back on activity to avoid injury. That is not true. The goal after 50 is not to do less of everything. It is to do the right things, in the right amounts. My article on whether running is good for you over 50 covers the health benefits in more depth.

What changes after 50 (and what does not)

Your aerobic ceiling drops with age, but your ability to work at a high percentage of it holds up well, and your body still responds to training. Understanding that difference is the key to training well after 50.

What changes

Your aerobic capacity falls. A review in Frontiers in Physiology notes that VO2max, the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use, drops by around 10% per decade after 30 in healthy sedentary adults, and is the measure most affected by age.
Your maximum heart rate falls. This changes your training zones, which I come back to below.
You lose muscle and power if you do not train them, especially the fast-twitch fibres that give you speed. It is very much a case of use it or lose it. My guide to sarcopenia for ageing runners explains why.
Your tendons get stiffer and recovery takes longer, which is why the way you load your training matters so much more now.

What does not

The same review describes masters athletes as extending the limits of human endurance, and the New York data shows older runners improving over decades. Your body still adapts to the right training. You just need to give it the time to do so. For the full story on the science, read the race against age.

Rule 1: Run less, recover more

Most runners over 50 will get better results from three or four days of running a week than from six or seven. As you get older your recovery is slower, and the extra recovery time is what lets your body actually get better.

What I have found, particularly with athletes moving into their 50s and even more so into their 60s, is that we can get a lot better results on a lot less training than before. My best example is my own dad. He ran seven days a week for four decades, and the degree he paid for was apparently not enough to make him take my advice. Eventually I got him down to four days a week. Over the next seven years he got faster and faster, until at 62 he was running times he had last run in his early 50s.

Here is how a week looks for most of the runners over 50 I coach:

Element	How much
Running	3-4 days a week
Strength training	Start with 1 session, build to 2 (up to 3)
Full rest	At least 1 day a week
Recovery week	Every 3-4 weeks, with less volume

A recovery week does not mean doing nothing. You can still run three or four times that week, just with less volume, so you bank the benefit of the training you have just done.

If you find yourself running every day, my advice is to cut back to four days. If you have more time and energy, add strength training or cross-training such as cycling or swimming, not more running. My guide to how runners over 50 need to be recovering covers the details.

If you are starting from scratch

Keep it to three or four days a week at most, and start with 15-20 minutes of walking and running. Begin with something like four or five minutes of walking followed by one minute of running, repeated until you reach 15-20 minutes. Every week or two, cut a minute of walking and add a minute of running. Start slowly. It is the fastest way to get where you are going.

If you are carrying extra weight, read my guide to starting running when you are 50 and overweight first.

Rule 2: Strength training is non-negotiable

If you are over 50 and only do one thing from this guide, make it strength training. It protects you from injury, slows the loss of muscle and power that makes you slower, and supports your bones.

We advocate strength training for every runner, but for someone over 45 or 50 it is a no-brainer. Start with one session a week, build to two, and work up to three if your body handles it. Squats, lunges and resistance-band work are a great place to start, and you do not need a gym.

This is not just my opinion. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults over 65 do muscle-strengthening activities on at least two days a week, alongside balance work. My article on strength training for runners over 50 covers what to do and when.

If you want the strength work planned alongside your running, my Faster Beyond 50 Masterplan builds it in, with weekly training plans for everything from a 5km to an ultra.

Rule 3: Keep your easy runs easy

You will run faster by slowing down. One of the biggest reasons runners stop getting faster is running their easy runs too fast or too hard, which leaves them too tired to recover and too tired to run their quality sessions properly.

Get your pacing right and run your easy runs easy enough. That might mean adding walk breaks to keep the effort down. It will feel frustratingly slow at first, but it is what lets you recover between sessions and train consistently, and consistency beats everything.

Do not trust “220 minus your age”

If you train by heart rate, be careful with the old formula. Research by Hirofumi Tanaka and colleagues in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that 220 minus age underestimates maximum heart rate after about 40, markedly so in older adults, and proposed 208 minus 0.7 times your age instead.

Let me give you an example. At 60, the old formula gives you a maximum heart rate of 160 beats per minute. The newer equation gives you 166. That gap of six beats shifts every zone you set from it, and individuals vary far more than either formula. Neither formula is reliable for you personally, so if heart rate matters to your training, get your maximum heart rate tested properly.

Rule 4: Use your speed or lose it

Fast-twitch muscle fibres, the ones that give you speed and power, are the ones you lose fastest as you age if you do not use them. That is why runners over 50 should not abandon faster running altogether.

The key is balance. Your quality sessions need to be quality, which is exactly why your easy runs need to be easy. Combine a little faster running with strength training, and you are giving your body a reason to hold on to the fibres that make you quick.

If speed is your goal, my article on 10 ways to increase your running speed after 50 has more ideas.

Rule 5: Respect the warning signs

After 50, the warning signs that you are not recovering arrive earlier and matter more. Ignore them and a niggle you could have shrugged off at 35 can cost you weeks.

Watch for these:

Muscle soreness that lasts more than 48 hours after a session.
A morning resting heart rate more than 10% above your normal.
Fatigue that does not lift after the first 10-15 minutes of a run, or carries over for days.
Pain that changes how you run. Stop, rest and see a physiotherapist if it persists.

Before you start running or step up your training, see your doctor for a check-up, especially if you have heart disease risk factors or a family history of heart problems. Stop running and get medical help straight away if you have chest pain, unusual breathlessness or dizziness. And if fatigue is your constant companion, my guide to understanding fatigue for runners over 50 is worth a read.

Rule 6: Fuel your muscles and protect your bones

Your training only works if you give your body the materials to adapt. After 50, that means taking protein seriously and looking after your bones as carefully as your muscles.

Fuel for recovery

Your muscles respond best when you take in protein regularly through your waking hours, not in one big meal. After training, pair some protein with carbohydrate to start the repair process. My complete nutritional guide for runners over 50 covers what and when to eat.

Protect your bones

Bone loss speeds up as we age, and running gives you a head start because it is an impact sport. The Royal Osteoporosis Society’s “Strong, Steady and Straight” consensus, summarised by the Society for Endocrinology, recommends about 50 moderate impacts, such as jogging or low-level jumps, on most days, along with progressive muscle strengthening.

If you have been diagnosed with osteoporosis or have had a fracture, get advice from your doctor or physiotherapist before adding impact or jumping exercises. My article on osteoporosis and runners over 50 explains more.

Women over 50

For women, the years around menopause bring their own changes, including faster loss of bone and muscle. That deserves its own plan. Read my guide to running to, through and long after menopause, and if you want a structured approach, my Running Through Menopause programme is built for exactly this stage.

Cross-training and sleep: your secret weapons

When runners over 50 have more time and energy, the answer is rarely more running. Cross-training and sleep give you fitness and recovery without the extra pounding.

Cross-training

Cross-training is your friend after 50, and even more so if you are just starting out. Cycling and swimming let you build your aerobic fitness while giving your joints, tendons and bones a break from the impact of running. That means you can add training without adding to the injury risk that comes with extra running days.

Think of it as filling the gaps around your three or four runs, not replacing them. A ride or a swim on a non-running day keeps your fitness ticking over, and on a recovery week it can stand in for some of your running volume. My articles on the role of cross-training in distance running and how to swim your way to becoming a better runner show how.

Sleep

Sleep is when your body does its repairs, and the older you get, the more you rely on that repair time. If you are training well but feeling flat, look at your sleep before you look at your training plan. Make it a priority, especially in your heaviest training weeks.

Treat it like a training session: a regular bedtime, a dark and cool room, and fewer late nights in the weeks that matter most. It costs nothing, and it is one of the easiest ways to get more out of the training you are already doing. My article on the critical role of sleep in running recovery explains why.

Racing after 50: marathons, ultras and Comrades

Turning 50 is no reason to stop chasing big goals. Plenty of runners run their first marathon, or their first Comrades, well past 50. The difference is in how you prepare.

The rules above matter even more when you train for long distances: fewer, better runs, strength training through the whole build-up, proper recovery after your long runs and races, and no chasing the training volume of younger runners in your club. Your long runs and races will take longer to recover from than they used to, so space them out.

If Comrades is on your list, my complete guide to Comrades Marathon training lays out the full build-up, and the story of running Comrades at 56 shows what is possible.

Rule 7: Measure yourself against your age, not your 30-year-old self

Comparing your 10km time at 58 with your time at 32 is a guaranteed way to feel slow. Age grading is a fairer way to see how good your running really is.

Age grading uses tables researched and compiled by World Masters Athletics to compare your result with the world-record standard for your age and sex, expressed as a percentage. As USATF Masters explains, the levels work like this:

Age-graded score	Level
100%	Approximate world-record level
90% and above	World class
80% and above	National class
70% and above	Regional class
60% and above	Local class

Track your age-graded percentage over the years and you may well find you are running better than ever, even if the clock says otherwise.

Running over 50: FAQs

Can you still get faster after 50?

Yes, especially if you have room to train smarter. Long-term New York City Marathon data shows the best older runners kept improving over three decades. Most runners over 50 improve by running fewer days, recovering better and adding strength training, not by training more.

How many days a week should you run over 50?

For most runners over 50, three or four days a week is the sweet spot, with strength training on at least two other days. Beginners should stick to three or four days at most.

Is 50 too old to run a marathon?

Not at all. With a sensible build-up that respects your recovery and includes strength training, you can run your first marathon in your 50s, 60s or beyond. Read how Judy ran her first marathon at the age of 66.

Is it too late to start running at 50 or 60?

No. Start with short walk-run sessions of 15-20 minutes, three or four days a week, and add a minute of running every week or two. Get a check-up with your doctor before you begin, especially if you have any heart risk factors.

Run well, and faster, beyond 50

Getting older changes how you should train, not whether you can. Run less, recover more, lift twice a week, keep your easy runs easy and measure yourself fairly, and there is every chance your best running years are not behind you.

If you want a plan that does this for you, my Faster Beyond 50 Masterplan gives you weekly training plans for distances from 5km to ultra, with strength training built in and designed around the way your body recovers now.

It makes me sad when runners give up on running because they kept training like they were 30. Do not be one of them. Here is to many more years, many more finish lines, and the best running of your life still to come.