My training runs this week have been at two different weather extremes. Half the runs were in 30 degree weather here in Buffalo and the second half were in Key West, Florida…where the temps were in the mid-80’s.

Running in the heat is great to pack for (lots more room for “stuff”), but it can deplete your energy must faster.

Read about preparing for a run in the sun

My husband and I could not re-apply sunscreen fast enough! We both burned quite a bit (not good when you are seeing your Dermatologist for a body check the next week!!!)

My husband, who is 52, has noticed he has been feeling like he isn’t getting as much oxygen during his runs lately. Not surprisingly, he felt this even more in the heat.

Older runners, like ourselves, will definitely see a dip in oxygen efficiency as we age. Should this mean we should throw in the towel at some point, as we see a decline in what we can do? Absolutely not! It just means we shouldn’t try to equate what we can do now to what we used to be able to do in our 20’s (BTW- neither myself nor my husband started running until we were in our 40’s).

VO2 Max

VO2 Max is a term that has been showing up more than ever lately, and one that I didn’t pay much attention to (if at all) until my Apple Watch started showing me a number. In researching what that was, I’ve learned a few things.

First of all, according to active.com VO2 Max is the maximum volume of oxygen the muscles can consume in a minute. The higher the number, the faster the rate of oxygen can be used…which translates to the ability to run faster.

This number is used as a fitness/health indicator. Since the higher the number, the more efficiently your oxygen is being used then obviously that also means the fitter you are. This number is measured during exercise that intensifies.

Take a look at this resource from Garage Gym. They have put together a calculator to give you an ESTIMATED VO2 max number.

My Apple Watch 3 shows me what they are figuring my VO2 Max is. Since testing for that conventionally takes about $120 and a hard treadmill or cycling session, my guess is the accuracy is not close to 100%. I tried to search for people who have taken the test while wearing a watch and did not have much success.

The one thing I can strive to do using those numbers, though, is to drive the number higher…whatever the formula they use to calculate. One of my goals as I run is to continually break 50. It took me a long time to do that, but finally in the last few months I consistently see a number higher than that after my run.

Does our Oxygen Use Deplete as we Age?

Back to my husband and his perceived oxygen loss, studies have shown that we do indeed lose the ability to process and use oxygen as efficiently as we did when we were younger.

Interestingly, studies have ALSO concluded that even though athletes will not be as “fit” as they were in their 20’s, someone in their 60’s can be AS FIT as a mid-20 year old who does not do any exercise. Which is encouraging, at least to those of us in our 50’s, 60’s and beyond!

What Can We DO?

So what do we do as we start feeling the inevitability of aging in our bodies? Keep on keeping on!! We can always improve something. I am faster now than I ever been, and have more endurance as well.

We have also found that allowing for a time of warming up, either jogging slowly or walking for about a quarter of a mile really helps as we get going. If we just start running fast, the run becomes a hard slog that depletes our energy.

Sometimes a walk/run can also get us further than if we try to run for a long period of time. Burning out 3 or 4 miles from home is no fun, but a walk/run means we can have a break and still cover a good distance. There are many walk/run programs online that you can check out.

The bottom line is to keep moving, wherever we are in the process. As the often seen meme says, “No matter how slow you are going, you are lapping everyone on the couch”!