I thought runner need more carbohydrate than protein intake ?
I read through several of your posts and realise the answers to your questions depend on the goals you want to achieve.
Common goals can be
1) health
2) running performance which can be short or long distance
The recommendations differ depending on the goals.
Some caveats before recommendations. Muscle repair and growth is reduced in seniors.
1)running recovery for seniors depend more on
a)rest.
Active recovery in the form of light activity like walking/easy runs is helpful to clear inflammatory metabolites accumulated during exercise but for some older folks even zone 2 may be too much for the muscles.
B) adequate protein ( about 20-40gm/meal or 1.6gm/kg/d). Running is a catabolic exercise as such seniors need more protein to preserve muscle mass.
C) carb intake post workout ( to replenish glycogen) high GI carbs replenish glycogen faster and in general carb intake promote muscle recovery. But seniors with insulin resistance may need to be careful with this.
D) adequate caloric intake.
E) hydration
F) sleep
G) supplements like creatine phosphate promote recovery.
F) massage
For seniors who want to incorporate running for health
1) high intensity interval training with a relative longer period of training interval is helpful for promoting heart health. The Norwegian 4x4min interval done 3x/week in 2 years trial showed that participants in their 50s have their heart function improved to 30s level.
2) 80/20 (polarised training) seems to be over glorified in almost every fitness blog. Not everyone needs endurance training for health purpose. While a zone 2 training is good for peripheral muscle capillary development and some zone 4 for glycogen storage expansion and heart function, a pyramidal training ( zone 2 with zone 3) can provide many similar benefits too. Seniors prob can tolerate a zone 3 intensity better than 4.
3) and for health purpose and not for performance , a senior actually does not need to run too much. Rather the exercise days should be well distributed among
1) whole body resistance training since muscle loss is accelerated post 40. One should do 2-3 days of resistance training a week
2) cardio. It is actually better to have a variety of cardio like rowing, cycling, running, brisk walking to cross train the body. Should the senior choose running as the main form, then again 2-3 days of running alternated between long runs and short intense workout would be good to avoid overtraining. There is little need for recovery runs as we are not trying to squeeze the last bit of performance, as the rest of the days the senior is doing other exercises.
3) balance exercises. Seniors should devote 1 day doing stability exercises whether yoga, plates, taichi etc
I hope this helps, as health goals are different from performance goals.
When occasionally feel a bit of niggle /pain then dial back.
