As the only member of our coaching staff who has even sniffed 30 years old, let alone 40, I can get a little defensive about my age. I promise you that casual conversations around the office have become a bit more challenging for Josh, our very knowledgeable and mild-mannered director of training since I’ve come on board. 

Josh: “Generally we won’t have a 40 something-year-old…” 

Me: What?? What won’t you have a 40 something-year-old do? Hmm???

Josh: “Back squat 400 pounds.”

Me (Slathering Icy Hot all over my body): Why because you think they can’t? Hmmmm??? You think because I’m old I can’t back squat a small car??” (Storming out of the room in my knee wraps and elbow brace).

These days, I find myself digging my heels in about age the way I did about being a girl playing with the boys.

“Are you saying I can’t do that because I’m a girl?? I’ll show you!”

And I did.

Eventually, I climb out of Josh's throat and take my creaky knees into the gym for a workout. I’m getting older. And I’m grateful for the privilege of aging, I truly am. But I’m learning, at every twist and turn, to embrace the changes in my body. Each day is a new lesson in training myself to look forward and not backward. It is so easy, as we get older, to become hyper-focused on what we used to do.

I used to read a menu without playing trombone.

I used to walk up and down stairs without a crunching noise in my knees. 

I used to be able to skip my warm up without pulling a muscle. 

Currently, I'm training for a half-marathon, and hopefully a full one. Yesterday on my 5k route, as I looked at my time, I was overcome with a major case of used to’s. I used to run a 5k in 26 minutes or less. I used to run nine-minute miles. 

It can be depressing to focus on. I suppose I could force myself to run faster. Or I could just enjoy the run. 

I’m training for the future, not the past. 

I’m not going to stop doing things because I’m getting older. Honestly, my main goal is to stay active as I get older. I want to lift weights and I want to run and I’d like to beat my dad in a game of golf, and hey, maybe take up tennis.

I love me some Bruce Springsteen but I refuse to be that guy in “Glory Days.” 

I think there are plenty of those still to come. 

I like running.

In fact I'm planning to train for a marathon this year - though I haven't broken the news to my knees yet. 

In fact, (for emphasis here), I just came back from a delightful three mile jaunt around Kennebunk. 

Running is a reason to by many pairs of shoes. Many. 

I started running seriously as a sophomore in college, having taken the year off from lacrosse to find myself (which is a separate blog post entirely). I ran laps around the suspended track at the gym, listening to Pat Benetar* on my Sony Walkman while watching the intramural basketball games below.

Yes I had the foam headphones to go with the Walkman.

Remember when the batteries were dying while the cassette tape was playing? Remember needing batteries for music?

I digress.  

Anyway, I chose to run because it was:

A. Simple
B. Affordable
C. I didn't know what else to do. 

Running has a low barrier to entry and burns calories like a furnace, which is why many people choose it when they decide to exercise. 

But is running really the best method if you are trying to lose 50 pounds or more? (To clarify here, I mean running 15-20 miles per week. Not signing up for the yearly alumni race that you run, hungover, with your friends. Oh wait...)

Regardless of your reasons, here are a few random points to consider before you tie up your laces and hit the trails:

(And I want to emphasize, again, that I'm not against running - I just think there are things to consider before you take it up full time.)  

1. What shape are your knees in?

The impact of running is the equivalent of at least two times your body weight on impact. That means that if you're 200lbs, for each step you take running you're putting 400 pounds of stress on your knees, hips, feet and joints. Over time, the impact is going to catch up with you. 

The number one frustration I see for clients is injury. Developing a new workout routine takes time, effort, and patience. When you finally hit your stride, the last thing you need is an injury to derail the process.  

If you've already got some knee issues going on, running 15 or more miles per week might not do you any favors.

2. It might take longer to build up to that 5K than you think

The best quote I read in doing a little research for this post was that cardiovascular adaptation comes along much quicker than our cartilage and joints. Which means that even though we're no longer huffing and puffing to get through two miles, our knees and hips might not feel as awesome as we think they do. Overuse injuries can happen very quickly with running, so in the beginning, if you've never run before, you may have to pace yourself even more than that Couch to 5K app suggests.

There are other ways to get a burn on and get your heart rate up while sparing your joints. Which is why...

3. Cross training and rest are important

When I was 26 I started training for a marathon. Periodically, I was plagued by knee pain that turned out to be IT band syndrome - something that many runners are all too familiar with. I tried a chote strap, and various stretches - but what I refused to try was cross training or rest. I was a runner - that's what I liked, that's what I did, and if anyone tried to talk me out of it, I ignored them.

In my case, that 26 year old wisdom eventually brought me to surgery to help relieve the pain, and I have yet to run that elusive marathon. 

We have a number of avid runners that work out at Spurling, and they are all smarter than I ever was. They include strength training to help with form, bone density, and many of them come back saying that strength training has only improved their running game. 

4. Don't forget about technique

Running technique always brings to mind the clip of Phoebe from Friends - but there's so much more to running than just trying not to flail your arms from side to side while moving. Do you run on your toes or your heels? (Generally, on your toes, but the first time you really focus on this you'll find that your calves are incredibly tight the next day). How long is your stride? How deep is your love?**

A cursory google search brought up several articles of suggested drills for improving speed and form - but the most important piece is to pay attention to that form. And warm up.

Warm. Up.

5. Pay attention to your shoes

Not all sneakers are running shoes - these days the athletic shoe market is flooded with choices, and if you plan on doing a lot of running, you'll want to make sure you're in the right shoe for your feet, ankles, knees and back. I wrote this post awhile back about the different types of shoes out there, but if you're serious about running, visit the local running store and try on all of the shoes until you find the right fit. Spend the money on the right shoes. 

And happy Monday. It looks like spring finally made it to Maine. 

*If you don't know who Pat Benatar is then..just...I don't even know what to do with you. Google her. Yes it's a her. 
**I couldn't pass up the BeeGee's reference. 

I know what you're thinking.

No one puts Baby in the corner.

If you're not thinking that, then chances are you're under 35 years old and never saw the wonder that was Patrick Swayze on the big screen.

I’ve been fortunate in my athletic career to avoid major injuries (knocking wood as we speak here), and one of my only surgeries to date was an arthroscopic procedure on my knee known as IT band lateral release surgery.

As the doctor put it a few days after the surgery, “I always like to take a healthy person and make her limp.”

I was a 25 years old avid runner. At the time, I’d been training for the Cleveland Marathon when I started to feel like Joe Pesci had taken a baseball bat to the outside of my knee. Eventually, I was diagnosed with IT Band Syndrome or runner's knee.

When I started exploring options for treatment, the overwhelming recommendation was to take time off from running and cross train.

And, stubborn 25 year old that I was, I refused to do either. When the doctor proposed the IT band lateral release surgery, (which I don’t think they do anymore), I jumped at it.  

Running wasn't just my form of exercise, it was my identity.

I see a lot of this thinking in the fitness world. Someone is a yogi, a cyclist, a power lifter, or a runner, and, much like I was, resistant to try other things. We know we "should." We know it would be good for us. 

I did myself no favors that summer, and while I returned to running a few months after the surgery, chances are I’d have been able to do so anyway with just rest and…drum roll please…some cross training.

It's great to find an identity through fitness (we'll avoid the deeper questions of who am I for now), but sometimes limiting yourself from other activities can cause more harm than good.

Also...

Yesterday I experimented with Facebook Live. If you can ignore the weird thing I'm doing with my hands (air piano maybe?), you might be actually find something useful to do with that fitness equipment that's been sitting in your spare room since last year :)

Click here to watch yesterday's video on stability balls.

But wait - there's more :)

Because last week was Thanksgiving and we're in the thick of the holiday season, sign up for my newsletter below to get a free guide on keeping a toe in the fitness water during the holiday season.