The thought of turning 50 does it make you sad or nervous

I’d like to be turning 50 tomorrow instead of 67…..

50 is nothing.
Actually any age bracket is nothing for a man.

But 50s is a great age bracket.

Turning 59 soon. The 50s are great. More flexibility, less stress, kids really starting to come into their own. I saw a study that said that men’s happiness is at its lowest point at age 50. That may be true. But the 50s after that are great.

My next birthday is 50, also. I'm at peace with it (I think). Part of what helps is how fit I feel physically, being able to run, race and feel good (sub-40 10K still, chasing sub-3:00 marathon this year). Of course, feeling good could change at a moment's notice, but as long as I continue to feel relatively young and healthy, I think I'll accept it when it comes.

40 felt kind of rough. I didn't feel "young" anymore. But after almost ten years of knowing I'm decidedly middle age (and not "young") I think makes me more realistic about 50. As long as I feel good, I see no point in obsessing about a number. Keep beating people half your age at races and there's no reason to feel depressed about your age.

Maybe I'll feel different when I actually turn 50. I don't know. But that's how I feel about it now.

Turning 60 in 3 1/2 months. Retirement is beginning to seem like a reality, rather than some sort of distant possibility. I’ll be in a financial position to travel more, volunteer more, spend more time with relatives, and just generally enjoy the benefits of four decades of working and saving for retirement. I’m in great health and very physically active. Hopefully I can even run more! 60 isn’t bad!

I would love to turn 50-again

So glad this found its way in the High School training forum!!! Maybe the boomer stererotype with technology is true :).
JK. LMAO!!! anyhow any advice to young kids in the running community from the older and wiser?

Well if I'm single I'd hope to pull the 20 somethings. Otherwise I would not want to work because that sucks as modern day slavery. I'd hope to have a net worth of enough to be a high rolling degerate pig or a good family man if I had kids.

Life actually ends at 40, so you are just afterpartying thereafter, so be thankful for and try to enjoy every day of your afterlife.

TBH I don't remember the occasion terribly well. It would have been in the last few weeks of my 2L year, plus I had kids who were nine and seven and not doing great, so there were other things on my mind. I suspect it was just another day for me--which of course is always true.

As far as running goes, things unravel pretty quick. There are some runners out there who are still running incredibly fast but I think that is anomaly than the norm.

Huh???

After 50, you need to work harder to stay healthy. The 50s were great for me. I really didn't notice aging until 71, except for prostate problems. Since 71, it's been tough, but I fight aging every single day.

Aging is like the current in a river. It moves relentlessly forward, but you can fight the current for years or even decades if you do something every day to stay young and healthy. Weight control, nutritious foods, and supplements will help. Weightlifting and frequent very high intensity workouts will boost T-levels.

OP, at 50, you can compete in the state and National Senior Games. I've been doing it for over 20 years.

It's not the age; it's the attitude.

Well said!

Just turned 63. I don't remember caring that much about turning 50.

What surprises me over the last 10 years or so is how young I feel compared to what I used to think of this age bracket. Fortunately I've been able to keep running without serious injury and I think that has helped my quality of life considerably. It's hard to imagine my future life after running - but things have a way of working out. (no pun intended)

I'm in almost the worst shape of my life but far less depressed about that than when I was 33, enjoying an incredible year of training when I had finally learned how to train properly and was back to running after 6 years off. I had the feeling like 'I wish I had more time before the wheels fall off'.

Now I know I will never be able to do even a 10k race at the pace I used to run a 20 mile training run. So I feel no sense of worry about not making progress. I know that I can start training tomorrow and enjoy literally years of my health and fitness getting better. It might top off with me running a 10k at 7:00 pace but that would be like aging backwards at this point. You can't get that sensation when you are 25 and in the shape of your life.

Health has become a bit of a concern. I'm less worried about my current lack of fitness (easily fixable) than I am about the cumulative effects of 3 decades of terrible sleep patterns and too high stress. But there's nothing to be done about the past, so just do your best and be grateful if you're in decent health.

My father was never an athlete during any period of my life. He'd been a boxer for a little while when in high school, and probably would have been a fantastic endurance athlete, but he grew up on a farm and never had time to do it. He enjoyed watching sports but didn't really participate. Physically, he was a very hard worker (he enjoyed yard work) and we had the nicest imaginable yards in the houses I grew up in. He literally spent hours of his time every weekend landscaping. I recall him coming back home (he was working out of state) when I was a very fit PAC 10 runner and he'd make me tired working in the yard with him (he was close to 60 at the time). He was in fine shape and only slowing down a little bit until 85. He's 88 now and has been essentially bedridden for the last 2 years. So no matter how fit you are, time will eventually catch up with you. But he enjoyed a very physical life for 85 years and so can all of us if we don't have some unfortunate illness or disabling injury. I 'm hopeful that modern medicine will have better anti-aging treatments in the future; it's looking unlikely for me, but people in their 20s-30s have a lot of hope to be more physical at a very advanced age.

Fifty was the only birthday that really got to me. Just didn't like the way it sounded. Turning 30 was nothing. Turning 36 bothered me a little (suddenly I was in my late 30s). On my 40th birthday I woke up with a sense of relief. Not sure what that was about. But turning 50 got to me. I got over it pretty quickly though. I turn 60 next month, and so far, I'm fine with it. Sometimes I'm amazed that running still comes so easily. I'm not very fast these days, but I can't seem to turn off that part of my mind that wants to be, so I should say I'm not very fast these days "yet."

Do not set unrealistic goals. If you can run 10K in under 60 minutes, you are doing well at age 50.

Tom Brady performs at a super high level at age 45 because he has lived in a big house with plenty of room. He can hang out in his home gym or man cave with his friends and avoid his wife and kids.

It's better than not turning 50.