Crushing It In Your 40's, 50's, 60's + 5 Ways To Keep Your Brain Sharp

How Ultrarunners Can Keep Crushing In Their 40's, 50's, 60's – And Beyond
Takeaway → Trailrunner magazine interviewed a handful of aging awesomely ultra runners to get their insight on how they keep training and racing. Here are some key elements to success.

Brian Wilford, 59 — Ease into it. Brian accepts it takes a bit longer to get going. Walking for the first quarter to half-mile is necessary, and okay. Brian runs 3-4 days a week with typically one speed/hill session a week, and one long run. He has also incorporated a short Yoga session post run to help maintain flexibility and reduce injury.

Jennifer Goins, 42 — Jennifer has hired a coach to help her balance running, work and family. She has adopted the mantra Forward is a pace, which allows her to accept she doesn't need to be the fastest, she just needs to keep moving.

Lindsay Raley, 63 — Lindsay attributes his longevity and success to consistency, a focus on quality over volume, and improving his sleep — getting at least 8 hours a day.

“My running coach has a great approach for older runners that focuses on quality versus quantity. Adding strides into my easy runs as well as targeted speedwork, like hill repeats, tempo, or fartleks, and one long run a week has been a winning combination.” — Linday

This Is How To Keep Your Brain Sharp As You Age: 5 Secrets From Research
Takeaway → I'm sure, like myself, many of you are beginning to forget simple things. Names don't come to front of mind as quickly as they once did, keys are misplaced, birthdays and anniversaries are forgotten. Honestly, it took me 10 seconds to recall the word anniversary. But, thankfully, slight changes in cognition is normal as you age. No need to panic just yet.

Here are 5 things you can do to stave off aging and the mental decline.

1. Exercise — specifically aerobic activity.
2. Cognitive Activity — embrace novelty and challenge. Do things that engage your brain, stretch your thinking, and are enjoyable.
3. Socialize — Deep friendships and seeing friends frequently were both tied to better cognitive functioning and slower cognitive decline.
4. Nutrition — The typical advice, a Mediterranean-style diet with ample veggies, fruits, grains, beans, fish and olive oil. Lower your intake of red meat, refined grains, and sweets.
5. Sleep — Commit to getting 7-8 hours a night.

Anton Krupicka: ‘Running Will Always Be My First Love’
Anton is a distant role model of sorts. Not at all because he was, is, a good ultrarunner, but rather because he focuses on living simply and putting together his own "events". He's built an identity around self exploration and self-powered adventures.

Running is still the sickest thing of all time. It’s all the other stuff. I honestly don’t care about HRV and macronutrients and trucker hats and hydration vests and who wins what race. People want to have all the [running] gear because it’s an easy way to construct an insubstantial, false identity. If you can just buy some shit as opposed to doing the real work of figuring out who you are, why wouldn’t you?

The Art of Failure: The Unexpected Path to Success
Source: The Knowledge Project Podcast
People think of success and failure as opposite things—that the more I succeed, the less I fail. But that’s really sort of a modern conception of success and failure. The fact of the matter is [that] failure is woven into the fabric of success. It’s not “How do you avoid failure?” That’s the wrong question. The right question is, “How do I fail, or how should I fail in ways that lead to the type of skill development and belief system that allow me to succeed long term?” It’s “How do we fail?

Quote to ponder

From a principled side versus a financial side, it is really tough to balance the two. But at the end of the day, all you have is your moral code, so you can’t compromise it too much. — Anton Krupicka