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Setting goals to run with purpose at any age

This is an excerpt from The Art of Ultrarunning by Ian Sharman.

Whether you’re new to ultras or have been at it a long time, your goals naturally change over the years. One of the best things about endurance running is that it’s possible to keep improving well beyond your peak years for strength and speed. Although physical fitness is essential, the additional challenges of ultras determine how well you can execute and take advantage of that fitness. The non-fitness abilities improve with experience and practice, and this is the angle that Mike Wardian leans into.

Most runners tend to have around 10 years in which they can get fitter and faster, irrespective of what age they start. That’s because many gains in endurance and running economy are from long-term adaptations. However, there are ways to run faster ultras even after this period by improving tactics, pacing, and general experience in how to cope with physical and mental situations in races. Also, if your previous years of running were at a low intensity and low volume, then there are also relatively easy gains to be made from training more effectively.

Once age inevitably slows you down to some degree, you may find it harder to get motivated when personal records stop happening or cutoffs become harder to beat. So the following are a few recommendations about setting goals as you age.

Remember What You Love About Running

When you first started running, there was an initial spark that attracted you. In my case, it was the idea of racing in the Sahara Desert and seeing places around the world that are exotic while meeting people with different perspectives and lifestyles. Ask yourself whether chasing faster times or wins has become your only motivator. If so, then it’s likely to be unfulfilling overall, even if you achieve these outcome goals. You need to find intrinsic reasons for why you run and race; then even when you reach an age where you run more slowly, it can still be extremely meaningful.

Find New Challenges

If you’re stuck in a rut and keep going back to the same races, just because that has become your default, then look into new options, whether that means different distances, terrain, or any other variable. Maybe racing in general has lost its luster. If so, how about epic solo or group runs? Exploring new trails and routes close to home can reinvigorate your running and therefore improve your quality of and enjoyment from training. This is discussed in more detail in chapter 15. Pacing and crewing for others can give you a new appreciation and context for your own running and a wider appreciation for the whole running community and your part within it.

Use Running to Explore the World

My wife frequently asks that we have at least one vacation that doesn’t involve a race, but when I pick a location that’s more exciting, she’s generally on board. (Palisades Tahoe, where the Western States 100 Miler starts, has gotten kind of old for her, but Hawaii seems to be a favorite.) There are endurance races almost everywhere now, so you can choose a race purely to explore somewhere different from where you’ve been before, giving a whole new meaning to your running. A great example is the Ultra Marathon Caballo Blanco in Copper Canyons in Mexico with the Indigenous peoples of the Sierra Tarahumara, as described in the book Born to Run (McDougall 2011). In this event, a global community of runners nicknamed “Más Locos” gathers to enjoy much more than running. Note that you’ll also meet this amazing, semi-hippie group at events like the Leadville Trail 100 Miler.

Train Smarter, Not Harder

This whole book is focused on this concept of training smarter, not harder, so hopefully the preceding chapters can help you adjust your training to make it more effective and adaptable as your body changes over time. Being more flexible from day to day, especially regarding recovery, becomes more important as you age. This will help you to get more bang for your buck out of your training as well as more consistency due to a lower chance of injury or overtraining. More is not always better.

Respect Your Off-Season

Related to the earlier point about recovery, off-seasons become more important after many years of training and when your body requires longer to recharge. Don’t worry about losing some fitness. However, don’t take six months off from running, or it’ll be harder to build on fitness from previous seasons. My default time frame is at least a couple of weeks of very light training with nothing long and only easy running efforts. That also applies to any cross-training, which should also be limited to low intensity. Sometimes more time is needed, especially if injuries or overtraining are rearing their ugly heads. Don’t underestimate how much an off-season can boost your following year and also the years afterward.

You can probably keep improving at ultras for longer than you expect, especially if you keep your training and racing varied, adjusting over time for how your body responds. You may need more recovery time as you age, but that doesn’t mean you can’t train hard. Plus staying fit will delay the effects of aging and increase your quality of life, which are very valuable benefits in and of themselves.

More Excerpts From The Art of Ultrarunning

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