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  • Endurance

    & Age

    Finding fulfillment in the hard grind.

    Enduring extensive miles, rhythmic steps, and an intentionally slow pace embody the essence of endurance sports. These emotions resonate deeply, particularly with age. While traditional wisdom says athletic prime occurs in one's 20s or 30s, a rising number of athletes embracing endurance sports in their 40s and beyond challenge this view.

    Younger athletes, propelled by exuberance, are often impatient in establishing the solid foundation needed to meet endurance expectations. Older athletes, however, exhibit a nuanced understanding of their body's limits, the repercussions of pushing too hard, and the significance of proper recovery.

    We’ve noticed a growing trend among Athlos users in their 40s and 50s who are actively pursuing endurance sports like running, cycling, and climbing. Intrigued, we decided to explore the relationship between age and endurance sports by talking to some of these folks.

    Enduring extensive miles, rhythmic steps, and an intentionally slow pace embody the essence of endurance sports. These emotions resonate deeply, particularly with age. While traditional wisdom says athletic prime occurs in one's 20s or 30s, a rising number of athletes embracing endurance sports in their 40s and beyond challenge this view.

    Younger athletes, propelled by exuberance, are often impatient in establishing the solid foundation needed to meet endurance expectations. Older athletes, however, exhibit a nuanced understanding of their body's limits, the repercussions of pushing too hard, and the significance of proper recovery.

    We’ve noticed a growing trend among Athlos users in their 40s and 50s who are actively pursuing endurance sports like running, cycling, and climbing. Intrigued, we decided to explore the relationship between age and endurance sports by talking to some of these folks.

    Before jumping into those personal experiences, let's take a glance at some inspiring stories from across the globe.

    Ludovic Pommeret won the Hardrock 100 Ultra Trail race at the age of 49, setting a course record in the process.
    Diana Nyad became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage, and she did so at the age of 64.
    Harriette Thompson completed the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon at the age of 92, setting a record for the oldest woman to finish a marathon.

    Inspired further by these incredible stories, we reached out to some of our older Athlos users to hear about their own experiences in endurance sports. Here’s what they had to say.

    Vijay (51)

    MARATHONER, ENTREPRENEUR

    I started a decade back and my trigger was medical reasons. My cholesterol and vitals were pretty high. It started with wanting to stay fit, and then I started enjoying the process and was mostly doing half marathons. I wanted to see if I could take on bigger challenges as well.

    In my experience, for people above 40 having a goals-based approach is helpful. Once I did my first full marathon I realised it wasn’t that hard anymore. Having something very clearly defined truly helps. The amount of time-investment needed can be quite a bit, so I’m limiting my runs to 42 km. This might change when my daughter moves out since I’ll be an empty nester.

    The biggest advantage of endurance sports for me has been being disciplined and having control over my training. This helps a lot because as an entrepreneur, my work can be quite unpredictable.

    Endurance sports have helped me in the last 2-3 years, not just with fitness but also with managing my time and being more productive overall.

    Vijay (51)

    MARATHONER, ENTREPRENEUR

    I started a decade back and my trigger was medical reasons. My cholesterol and vitals were pretty high. It started with wanting to stay fit, and then I started enjoying the process and was mostly doing half marathons. I wanted to see if I could take on bigger challenges as well.

    In my experience, for people above 40 having a goals-based approach is helpful. Once I did my first full marathon I realised it wasn’t that hard anymore. Having something very clearly defined truly helps. The amount of time-investment needed can be quite a bit, so I’m limiting my runs to 42 km. This might change when my daughter moves out since I’ll be an empty nester.

    The biggest advantage of endurance sports for me has been being disciplined and having control over my training. This helps a lot because as an entrepreneur, my work can be quite unpredictable.

    Endurance sports have helped me in the last 2-3 years, not just with fitness but also with managing my time and being more productive overall.

    Sandeep(53)

    TRIATHLETE, FUND MANAGER

    I always enjoyed long-distance running but started seriously in the early 2000s. In 2007, when the Mumbai Marathon started, it got more goal-oriented for me. I did the Mumbai Marathon and the Half Marathon several times. I’ve done all the big 6 marathons so far. I also began cycling to start doing cross-training and did my first triathlon, the half Ironman in Italy. My second one was the Ironman 70.3 in Turkey.

    Apart from fitness, I’ve also found a great community thanks to endurance sports. It’s been a great stress buster and has helped me have something other than work to look forward to.

    My advice - don’t wait for the right time, get started today. Get your health checks done regularly and slowly build up your endurance. Listen to your body and train practically.

    Apart from fitness, I’ve also found a great community thanks to endurance sports. It’s been a great stress buster and has helped me have something other than work to look forward to.

    My advice - don’t wait for the right time, get started today. Get your health checks done regularly and slowly build up your endurance. Listen to your body and train practically.

    Corina(58)

    TRIATHLETE, LEARNING & INNOVATION MANAGER

    When I moved to an office job, I realised I had a lot of unspent energy. I started running regularly in my late 30s and only started running long distances in my 50s. I was the winner in my age group at the Tata Mumbai Marathon (10k) in 2018, and then went on to complete the Procam Slam. Doing the Ironman Goa 2019 was an obvious next step for me.

    I realised running is also about the community you’re part of even though it's an individual sport.

    Which was great for someone who played a lot of football early on in life. I never really visualised myself doing an individual sport, considering my background. But running is possibly the biggest reason for all my friendships in Bombay since I’ve moved here. I think I’m also different in the sense that I never looked at endurance sports purely from the lens of fitness. I’ve always been fit thanks to football, but it’s the community angle that also really resonates with me.

    I think no matter how old you are, you should look at sports as something to do consistently. A lot of people start running or exercising due to lifestyle-based health issues. Instead, if you continue to pursue some form of sport through your 20s and 30s, you can do so much more with your life as you get older. This is something I'm working on professionally as well through creating programs for young girls to play sports.

    Corina(58)

    TRIATHLETE, LEARNING & INNOVATION MANAGER

    When I moved to an office job, I realised I had a lot of unspent energy. I started running regularly in my late 30s and only started running long distances in my 50s. I was the winner in my age group at the Tata Mumbai Marathon (10k) in 2018, and then went on to complete the Procam Slam. Doing the Ironman Goa 2019 was an obvious next step for me.

    I realised running is also about the community you’re part of even though it's an individual sport.

    Which was great for someone who played a lot of football early on in life. I never really visualised myself doing an individual sport, considering my background. But running is possibly the biggest reason for all my friendships in Bombay since I’ve moved here. I think I’m also different in the sense that I never looked at endurance sports purely from the lens of fitness. I’ve always been fit thanks to football, but it’s the community angle that also really resonates with me.

    I think no matter how old you are, you should look at sports as something to do consistently. A lot of people start running or exercising due to lifestyle-based health issues. Instead, if you continue to pursue some form of sport through your 20s and 30s, you can do so much more with your life as you get older. This is something I'm working on professionally as well through creating programs for young girls to play sports.

    Age is not
    a barrier,
    it’s an
    advantage.

    To our inquisitive minds here at Athlos, the relationship between age and endurance has always been an interesting topic. After speaking to our older users (albeit a small dataset) we were able to get interesting insights into this relationship. Contrary to popular belief, we found that in a sport where longevity is crucial, age not only shapes athletic potential but also influences the overall enjoyment of the sport.


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