Forums >General Running>How much should I run and how fast if I just want heart health, mind health weight maintenance?
Yeah, I don't believe it either; seems to me that exercising four times per week should equate to MUCH more than just an additional year. That said, there is also the quality of life perspective; even if it really is only an extra year, odds are that the years you have will have a higher quality of health and overall wellness. While I totally agree that the key is consistency, there is also a thing known as the "real world." I was a runner in high school, I ran a little less in college, and a little less still when I was in the Marines. By the time I was 30 my career was looking good and my body, well, not so much. I managed to get back in shape and do a number of triathlons in my early 30s, and then a wife and kids happened just as my career progressed to the next level. Guess what? I got fat again. As the kids got older and more independent, I started working out again, and by the time I was in my mid-40s, I was smoking a 10 mile trail run in under 80 minutes three to four times per week; yeah, not too shabby. Then I broke my leg and partially tore off my foot; I got fat again, and if my surgeon had had his way, that's the way I would have stayed (his exact quote was, "You'll walk again; with a limp. You'll never run again." When I was in my early 50s, after many unsuccessful attempts to start running again, I finally found a new dirt trail (the old one had since been paved over), and it proved to be soft enough to allow me to run without getting injured. I managed a whopping 8 miles that first month, and an even more impressive 18 miles the second. I'm now in my late 50s and logging 200+ miles per month, and trying to get back down to a decent racing weight. So, with all of the above said, given the inconsistencies in my life vis-à-vis exercise, I still believe my off again, on again exercise pattern has added numerous extra years to my life, and quality ones at that.
Yeah, I don't believe it either; seems to me that exercising four times per week should equate to MUCH more than just an additional year. That said, there is also the quality of life perspective; even if it really is only an extra year, odds are that the years you have will have a higher quality of health and overall wellness.
While I totally agree that the key is consistency, there is also a thing known as the "real world." I was a runner in high school, I ran a little less in college, and a little less still when I was in the Marines. By the time I was 30 my career was looking good and my body, well, not so much. I managed to get back in shape and do a number of triathlons in my early 30s, and then a wife and kids happened just as my career progressed to the next level. Guess what? I got fat again.
As the kids got older and more independent, I started working out again, and by the time I was in my mid-40s, I was smoking a 10 mile trail run in under 80 minutes three to four times per week; yeah, not too shabby. Then I broke my leg and partially tore off my foot; I got fat again, and if my surgeon had had his way, that's the way I would have stayed (his exact quote was, "You'll walk again; with a limp. You'll never run again."
When I was in my early 50s, after many unsuccessful attempts to start running again, I finally found a new dirt trail (the old one had since been paved over), and it proved to be soft enough to allow me to run without getting injured. I managed a whopping 8 miles that first month, and an even more impressive 18 miles the second. I'm now in my late 50s and logging 200+ miles per month, and trying to get back down to a decent racing weight.
So, with all of the above said, given the inconsistencies in my life vis-à-vis exercise, I still believe my off again, on again exercise pattern has added numerous extra years to my life, and quality ones at that.
In response to consistency, what I'm planning on doing eventually is just starting a 5-mile-a-day streak once I feel strong enough, and, by George, just keeping that up as long as I can, i.e. not taking a day off unless I literally cannot run.
I've tried weight training, etc., but I could never stick with it. I gravitate toward running because it works the heart and just makes the pounds fall off. Granted, if I am always running and losing muscle, I'll be a 30-yr-old man with the body of a 12-yr-old boy some day, but if I'm healthy I could care less.
if you're tired of starting over then stop giving up!