Returning To Running After 50: What You Need To Know About Blood Flow and Body Awareness

When you think about it, everyone has been a runner at some point in their lives. 

So, when people say to me, “I’d like to get started running.” What they really mean is getting their current body reacquainted with running after years of being busy with other activities, such as raising a family and building a career. 

If there is one truth about running ability, it’s this: Use it or lose it. 

This becomes more important as we age. In addition to the loss of fitness and mobility, our metabolic systems naturally decline. This is inevitable, but you can regain much of what you have lost and more. It’s takes time and work, but it’s worth it. 

Before we get to how this works, I want you to remember two key points that every runner should respect when they start running again:

1. Blood flow
2. Body Awareness 

Blood flow is why you warm up before running. Getting the blood flowing activates all kinds of beneficial processes. Running increases blood flow too, but you need to get it moving first to moderate the transition to running.

Then, do it again after every run. We call this cooling down. 

Sometimes you will hear professional runners say their bodies are “accepting” their training. This means they are making gains and experiencing minimal discomfort. The key to this is moving the body before and after every run to move those fluids to where they can do their job.

Body awareness is vital when returning to running. Just focus on being aware of your body and the signals it’s sending you, without judgement. This is known as proprioceptive awareness.

Proprioception is the body’s ability to sense its positions and movements. We discussed this in detail in Episode 4: Proprioception: Your Self-Coaching Friend And Guide

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Enjoy your next run!