According to her, the secret is to "still make running a priority" in your life. She continues, "It's not about how much you run; it's about the act of running and reaping the benefits."
Listed below, are running secrets that can keep you young, for many decades.
20-Something
One of the biggest problems at this age, is Overtraining. While runners of all ages can fall into the trap of overtraining, women in their 20s are most likely to run on a disorganized schedule, interfering with their eating, training & sleep patterns.
The secret to avoiding overtraining and the body injuries it causes, is to rest for at least 48 hours between hard runs. If you're too impatient to take a full day "off", then use Cross-training. This will allow you to work non-running muscles while the running muscles recover. In particular, swimming is a recommended way to exercise between hard runs.
Women in their 20s also tend to have dismal eating habits. So another secret is to reduce the sweets, fatty snacks and other guilty pleasures; while increasing the nutritious veggies, fruits & grains. Good nutrition is necessary to achieve running success with minimal injuries.
30-Something
Many women at this age, benefit from The 10 Year Rule.
Scientific studies have found that regardless of when you started running, you reach your peak at about 10 years after you started. Since most women start running training in their 20s, this means they wind up hitting their peak in their 30s.
But as you approach 40, it becomes harder & harder to recover from a difficult or long run. This is due to loss of muscle mass, which translates to loss of glycogen reserves and the ability to recover.
The secret is to refuel more efficiently.
Increase your intake of healthy carbs, including veggies, fruits, whole grains, yogurt & beans. And do your healthy eating on a regular schedule, without missing meals.
Another secret for improving your recovery time is of course, strength training. The key here, is to find an excellent, fully-detailed, strength training program made specifically for women.
If it's difficult for you to find time, simply do 20-30 minutes, 2-3 times per week, while watching your favorite TV programs!
40-Something
By this age, you begin to notice that your aerobic capacity, speed of recovery, and muscle mass are declining. The good news is that you can slow, or even reverse, these aging effects.
Aging does not change your resting heart rate; but under stress, your heart is not able to pump as fast as it used to. The secret to keeping your heart rate capacity as high as possible, is to keep constantly challenging yourself aerobically. Don't overtrain; don't overstrain; just keep pushing yourself a bit farther than your "comfort zone".
Another secret to keeping your physical capacities high, is variety. Your muscles are made to adapt, so they will adjust to any given training program as quickly as they can, and stop improving. By changing your training every 1-2 months, you keep challenging your body and so, your body continues to build muscle, strength & endurance.
50-Something Plus
One of the most frightening aspects for women reaching the age of 50+, is loss of bone mass. And this loss tends to accelerate, post menopause. The secret is that exercise slows the rate of bone loss, and can even reverse it (in the case of strength training).
Constant running makes bone compress & extend, due to impact - which stimulates bones to grow.
Cross-training can help even more, because you are varying the type of stress and the bones involved.
Strength training is the best though, if you want to avoid osteoporosis.
Another anti-aging secret is stretching. At advanced age, people lose more "expected lifespan" due to loss of flexibility, than loss of strength or endurance. You can cold-stretch during the warmup before every run, then warm-stretch during the cooldown after every run. Frequent stretching on a regular schedule, will help you avoid doing the dreaded "old lady shuffle".
