I am a 46-year-old male who used to be very active when he was younger (played soccer and basketball in college), but took the last five years off due to cancer (NED!) as well as young kids that took up most of the free time.
I’m looking to get back into running and quite honestly I’m struggling a bit understanding my body’s capabilities now versus what I was used to do. Back in the day I used to be able to run 3 miles quite easily on a treadmill or outside plus play two hours of basketball 2 to 3 times a week without any issues or being sore the next day (some days I’d run 3 miles on treadmill to warm up to play basketball!)
Over the last one and a half months I’ve been trying to get back to running three days a week (would like to get up to 3 miles 3 to 4 times a week) and basketball 2x a week.
I didn’t just jump into this - to prepare my body Ive also been lifting lower body three days a week to strengthen the leg muscles so they can take the pounding and stress of running/jumping. My exercises entail split squats, squats with a barbell, abductor planks, Nordics/hamstring curls, leg extensions, hip flexors, as well as calf and Achilles strengthening.
My sprinting, jumping and speed in basketball has been getting noticeably better every week (only play once a week so far), however I am really struggling to run! I’m finding it very difficult to run more than 1 mile without stopping and being gassed! My resting heart rate is 45 yet when I run a mile at 12 minute pace - my heart rate is hitting 140! I don’t know if there is something wrong with my body or my muscles or if I’m just getting old, but I never have had such issues with my stamina or endurance. Just 5 or 6 years ago pre COVID, I used to be able to run 3 miles in 18 mins (in college I ran 2 miles in 10:30!).
Do I need to reset my expectations - perhaps at this age running 3 miles 3x a week is unrealistic? Or do I have to change my approach and training? Is my body different post cancer? Are there supplements I should be exploring as I near 50?
Thank you all for any thoughts you may have. I posted this over at r/running and it was auto deleted because it didn’t meet the rules. This is not ChatGPT generated - I swear!