Running in Your 30s – Smart Running Tips for a Busy Life

As you enter your 30s, life gets busy. Career demands tend to increase, and often, family responsibilities increase as well. It’s a time when it is more challenging to keep up with your running schedule. At the same time, your body is changing, which also requires a slightly different approach to optimize your running performance. Fortunately, it’s easy to overcome these challenges. By appreciating these changes, and with a few good running tips, running in your 30s can be extremely rewarding. 

Why Running in Your 30s Is Great!

Running is great at any age because of all the advantages it offers. But running in your 30s has some specific benefits. Your 30s are usually a very busy time and some level of stress is often present. Many people rely on running to help them decompress. Likewise, you can usually schedule a few quick runs into your week without adding more stress to your life. For this reason, running is a great activity from both a physical and mental wellness perspective. 

In addition to being a stress reliever, running in your 30s also prepares your body for healthy aging. Many fitness experts recommend running as a way to keep your bones healthy and strong. This is particularly important for women who look to maintain good bone density in later life. In fact, running has been shown to delay the aging process while boosting your immune system. With this in mind, perhaps one of the best running tips is simply to run!

Specific Running Tips in Your 30s

When you reach your 30s, your overall strength will normally peak. Likewise, your metabolism only slows slightly from your 20s, which means your performance remains excellent. And by the time you’re in your 30s, you know your body quite well. For all of these reasons, many individuals often begin running longer distances if they have the time. In fact, the average age of most marathon runners is 38 years. But in order to optimize your running in your 30s, several running tips can be offered. These will help you perform your very best now and for decades to come. 

• Strength Training Becomes Important 

Strength training exercises are naturally important in preventing injuries and avoiding fatigue. But these exercises also help you build muscle mass that creates a great foundation for health in later years. Core exercises as well as a routine that builds strength in all your muscles is thus recommended. 

• Change Up Your Running Routines

Many in their 20s simply went out for a run whenever they wanted to do so. But one of the running tips for those in their 30s is to adopt a more structured routine. Mixing up your regular runs with tempo runs and intervals can improve your performance. While you’ve lost hardly any potential for running in your 30s, a mixed routine can promote peak performance.   

• Time to Pay Attention to Nutrition

Proper nutrition is important at any age for runners. But your metabolism starts to slow slightly in your 30s, and good habits now can have lasting effects. Understanding this, do your best to eat smaller and more frequent meals. Pay attention to the foods and snacks you are eating while saying well hydrated. And match your caloric intake with your level of activity and age. These are great health preserving running tips for any age. 

Creating a Foundation for Lifelong Running

Yes, life in your 30s is busy, but making time for running is important. By following the above running tips, you can best position yourself to run most of your life. In addition to strength training, mixed running routines, and good nutrition, other strategies may also be considered. For example, getting the correct running shoes can protect your feet and increase your running longevity. Yoga, stretching and massage may also be additional considerations to promote recovery and long-term health. By taking this approach, running in your 30s can be both fun and rewarding. And it may allow you to enjoy running for many years to come.