"Doc, I'm just getting old." This is a common excuse we hear from runners seeking to explain an injury or poor performance. So common is this excuse that we have given it a name: Old Age Syndrome (OAS).

OAS is not a physical affliction but rather a state of mind. This mind set allows us to disregard the true causes of injury and have less guilt about the decline in our performance. If you suffer from OAS, do not despair. The treatment is simple: understand the true causes of injuries and examine the physiological research out of Ball State University on aging runners.

Running is a bilateral sport where equal demand is placed on both sides of the body. However, most running injuries occur on only one side. This is due to muscle inflexibility and strength imbalances, along with faulty skeletal alignment, causing altered biomechanical function.

Altered biomechanics in turn focus stress unequally on various parts of the body. These areas become the subject of overuse and are ultimately the sites of injury.

Injuries are not a function of age. It is amazing how many doctors use the infamous line "you are not getting any younger," when you describe your latest affliction. Aging only allows more time for our insufficiencies to catch up with us, rather than actually being a cause. Next time you injure a leg; remind yourself that the other leg is the same age.

Runners with OAS will carry the same injuries with them for years like a badge of courage, as they limp through workouts and races, never taking steps to actually deal with the cause of the injury, or seek treatment and rehabilitation advice.

Various endurance factors including heart rate, VO2 max and muscle structure were measured at Ball State University on a group of elite runners in their late 40s and compared to the values they had when tested in their late 20s.

Physiologically, running is controlled by three major factors: the heart (the pump), lungs (oxygen supply), and the muscles (our wheels). If aging drastically affects our running, it should certainly be reflected by one of these three factors.

If Old Age Syndrome causes a decrease in performance over time, surely it must affect the capacity of the heart to do endurance work over time. Yet, when the runners were tested at age 48, maximal heart rates and sub maximal heart rates (rate required to maintain a particular pace) were "well maintained" when compared to that at age 26. The heart's capacity to handle endurance running did not decline over the years.

Then OAS must affect the lungs and oxygen transport to decrease performance. Yet, the runners had no significant loss of VO2 max between ages 26 and 48. As a matter of fact, an additional study showed maintenance of VO2 max between the ages of 52 and 62. The runners also maintained their running efficiency (the oxygen cost of maintaining a running pace) over the decades. Their bodies were not working harder to run the same pace, neither when measured by the heart nor the lungs.

If OAS does not diminish heart and lung capacity, then the muscles must be the limiting factor, as structure and strength changes occur over time, right? Think again. The runners had consistent running weight from 26 to 48 with little deviation, some actually weighed slightly less. And rather than the muscle cells shrinking over time (a popular belief), the runners had a twenty-five percent increase in the cross-sectional size of endurance muscle cells (Type 1) from age 26 to 48. Blood supply to the muscle cells was also similar, meaning oxygen transport to the cells and waste product removal can occur as efficiently in the older runners. The muscles were shown to be as capable, if not more so, to carry out endurance activity.

Some may be thinking at this point: "they may have the endurance, but stiffness and decreasing flexibility must change their stride length and slow them down." Fact: The stride length of the runners remained the same, and had not decreased at all over the years. This good news is not limited to those in their 40s. Other studies have shown strength training in 60 to 72 year old men led to increased blood supply to their muscles by fifteen percent. Regular exercise regimens instituted by previously inactive 70 to 79 year olds increased their VO2 max by twenty to twenty-five percent, indicating greater endurance capacities for older sedentary individuals if they exercise.

This research, carried out on elite runners who continued running over the years, shows the potential of the human body to maintain endurance fitness levels over the decades before serious decline is noted. One needs only to look at the accomplishments of Eamonn Coughlan (3:58 mile), Doug Kurtis (2:15 Boston Marathon), and Priscilla Welch (New York Marathon victory as a master) for inspiration to what can be accomplished. Locally, Chuck Moeser, Alisa Harvey, and Jim Hage continually trounce the majority of younger runners in the area. Declining performances and increasing times through the 40s and beyond have more to do with less consistent training at quality speeds and by increasing family and work responsibilities which we did not have to endure in our twenty-something years. Priorities shift and motivation wanes as goals become readjusted with the various stresses of life. Injuries seem a little harder to bounce back from, which also affects the long-term consistency of training.

There is a point where aging and performance intersect and continue on diverging paths. The importance of this research is that those in their 40s, 50s, and beyond can reset their goals and expect better performances because the body still has the capacity to improve if training is consistently followed and injuries are avoided. Everyone needs to assess their priorities and balance their training with the other responsibilities of life. In reality, Old Age Syndrome does not have to dampen your goals over the years. For most of us who continue to run vigorously over the years, it just doesn't exist! Free your mind!

Dr. Neil McLaughlin, a graduate of St. John's University and New York Chiropractic College, is a certified chiropractic sports physician. Dr. Ron Kulik is a graduate of Virginia Tech and New York Chiropractic College. Drs. McLaughlin and Kulik have been running, racing, and coaching for more than 50 years combined. They practice at the Commonwealth Chiropractic Center of Reston where they treat many of the top area runners, bikers, and triathletes. Questions and comments should be forwarded to Commonwealth Chiropractic Center, 11319 Sunset Hills Road, Reston, VA 20190, 703-742-7856.