My mom started running when she was (I think) 57. She started with 5Ks, and she worked her way up to running half marathons. At some point, we likely knew we would have to be a little realistic: The later in life you begin running, the more difficult it is to avoid injuries because you're simply not as conditioned. She was recently given some unnerving news: She has to tone it down and stick to shorter distances, like 5k.
I'm sure she would be lying if she said she wasn't a little bit upset. However, she seemed excited at the prospect of running shorter races. And then...she started explaining herself.