Be an Athlete, at Any Age

Today is as good as any to get started

Welcome back to Age Wise, exploring the science of improving physical health and mental wellness at every stage of life. This week, I want to tell you about how I went from jogger to athlete in just a few weeks — and you can, too.

None of these people is me. But they are athletes, and they seem pretty happy about it. Image: Pexels

This article was first published on Medium earlier this week…

Jogging is just slogging when you first start out. Pounding the pavement, huffing and puffing, no reward in sight. It’s demonstrably brutal. Unforgiving. Sweaty and demoralizing. A stark reminder that you’re not an athlete. I was there a few weeks ago, though not for the first time, trying to get back into running shape and once again run like the wind and enjoy that glorious runner’s high — yet wondering whether, at age 60, I even could.

Meanwhile, our youngest son, at age 21, signed up for a 10k, his first running race. He challenged me to join him, to at least do the event’s 5k.

I’ve been thrilled to be out there jogging again after a 15-year hiatus, thanks to yoga that recently put my chronic pain largely to rest. But race again? At my age? I thought back to my running days, how races motivated me to get in shape and stay in shape even though I never won a single event.

But that was then. This is now. And I’m slow.

Yet now I know something: Racing isn’t just about the race. It’s about the motivational power of a goal, a commitment you pay an entry fee for and announce to friends and family, the promise of a T-shirt emblazoned with your accomplishment, and the post-race celebration with a community of like-minded… athletes.

When you first take up jogging, it can feel like running away from something. The stress of everyday life. The extra pounds. The lack of energy. And it is those things: Jogging is really good for body and mind and ups the odds of a longer, healthier life. But to get beyond the drudgery of jogging, you need to head toward something.

You need a real finish line looming in your life.

Don’t get me wrong. Setting a fitness goal in your head — I want to jog a mile or whatever — is great. Telling friends and family about it is even better, makes you accountable. But deciding to run an actual race and paying an entry fee (with the promise of a T-shirt) seals the deal. When you cross the finish line in a race, at whatever pace and in whatever finishing position — you stop being a jogger and become an athlete. You begin to think differently of yourself, of your physical and mental capability as a human.

Remembering all that motivational power and wishing to partake in a fun event with my son, I signed up for the 5k.

Instantly I began to train a little harder, jog a little farther, walk less, even run a little faster — all with due caution in order to avoid injury (see my guide: how to start running safely).

Soon, jogging became running, the way I remembered it. One day I even achieved the runner’s high again. Seemed like maybe I could be an athlete again. After all, I was training for a race!

Race day was perfect. The low desert sun warmed our muscles on a still, cool but not cold fall morning. The 5k turned out to be rather arduous, nearly a half-mile longer than the 3.1 miles billed and with a steep, rocky climb toward the end that had some folks walking. But I was ready. I’d trained for that climb and was over-prepared for the distance. As my tank ran low, I thought about the other old guys in front of me and behind. I sucked it up and finished as strong as I could, racing not just against those old guys but toward the athlete I was becoming.

I was not last in my age group. And so I’m claiming Not Last Place as a victory. Hell, finishing was victory enough.

So now what? I ran a race! A few minutes later I watched my son sprint to the finish line in his first race, giving it his all. He’s hooked, I thought. I could see it in his determined face.

Driving home, I thought how easy it’d be to grab some beer and potato chips, hit the couch and regale the family for months with the tale about not finishing last in that challenging 5k on the rocky desert trail on a freezing cold morning under the blinding, deyhdrating hot desert sun. But there’s a problem. I think of myself as an athlete now. Not a winning athlete, you know, but an athlete nonetheless. I’ll never be as fast as my son, never as fast as I once was. But if I work at it, I can be faster than I was in that 5k.

This is what happens. Once you cross the threshold of self-perception from jogger to athlete, finishing lines become starting points.

So I did what had to be done. I signed up for a 10k. It’s just a few days away now. I’ve studied the 60–69 age group times from the event last year, and I’m confident I won’t be last.

Excited and motivated, I’ve been enjoying longer training runs that would’ve seemed improbable a few weeks ago. (When you’re an athlete, you call it training instead of jogging — sounds much cooler, doesn’t it?) I’m reveling in the sheer joy of running like the wind. Well, running like a mild breeze, anyway. My body feels good. My brain feels good. I feel like an athlete again.

Need a nudge? Search “find a 5k near me.”

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Your support makes this free newsletter possible. If you find it useful, please consider forwarding it. You can find more of my health and wellness writing on Medium. Also find me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin. And if you ever feel tired, unfocused, stressed or cranky in the afternoon, check out my book, Make Sleep Your Superpower. —Rob