Aging is a complicated process. While chronological age may be a poor indicator of actual ability, everyone ages eventually, even those top Iron Men and Women in Kona who get up on stage during the awards with those mind-boggling times and incredibly fit bodies.
In short order I will be 52 years old, and while that may not seem old to some of you, the increasingly youthful world in which I live tells me that I'm at least fairly old to most, and ancient to a few.
Last weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to defend a cycling title for the fourth year in a row on our humble campus. Even though I was older than I'd ever been, struggled through thyroid cancer this past year, and despite having a number of folks in the peleton whose age could make them sons of mine, I had the most convincing performance of the four. Reflecting on the race, a few thoughts came to mind, and because this is a triathlon blog written by an older age-grouper, I thought I'd share them:
In short order I will be 52 years old, and while that may not seem old to some of you, the increasingly youthful world in which I live tells me that I'm at least fairly old to most, and ancient to a few.
Last weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to defend a cycling title for the fourth year in a row on our humble campus. Even though I was older than I'd ever been, struggled through thyroid cancer this past year, and despite having a number of folks in the peleton whose age could make them sons of mine, I had the most convincing performance of the four. Reflecting on the race, a few thoughts came to mind, and because this is a triathlon blog written by an older age-grouper, I thought I'd share them:
- If you've been a lifetime endurance athlete and want to stay fit and competitive, you've got to change your game as you age or else risk getting burned out or injured, or both.
- Endurance is probably something you don't need more of. While you need to maintain it, and possibly hone it as race day nears, the endurance money is probably in the bank if you've been a serious endurance athlete anything like the four decades I have.
- That said, the high miles and mythic intensities of yore need to give way to something else, something smarter, clever and more nuanced than anything you may have ever considered. Performance needn't fall off, at least not dramatically, but strategies and mindset need to change.
- I just posted a core strength workout. For me, this component to overall health and competitive success is the biggest change to my regimen. Swim, bike and run was pretty much all I did to train back in the '80s, my mindset then being that if those were the stages of this new race called triathlon, then what other way would you prepare than S/B/R? If the three sports carried me to 7th overall at the '84 Hawaii Ironman, then core strength carried me to 5th in the 50-54 age group in 2011. Without it, I never would have gotten through the marathon, because I can assure you I certainly didn't get through that final leg on the running training I didn't do!
- Flexibility is also more important than it has ever been. I can remember being on the running teams in high school and stretching with the team before the "real" part of the workout began, wondering, probably like everyone else, why we were having to do all these dumb stretches. Yet Coach Vann was a smart man, and the idea was planted, the ethic established, and over time I found myself working on my flexibility more than before. Now, I stretch whenever I can - during meetings, while I'm typing this, when I get up, before I go to bed, whenever I want to relax - because I find that it makes me feel really, really good. And because I know that it has allowed me to remain very competitive.
- Nutrition is a strange thing to mention in a way, since good nutrition should be a given in any serious athlete's life. However, during my lifetime the average American male has only gotten heavier and heavier, while the food that he eats has gotten more processed, less wholesome. and evidently more plentiful. Triathletes tend to be a fairly prescriptive bunch, but they're not completely immune to the world of alarmingly common obesity/diabetes/hypertension/heart disease/etc. in which they live. I can still remember reaching 152 pounds as an 18 year-old in college. This morning after my swim I weighed in at 152 pounds again, which was no surprise since I've been plus or minus five pounds from that weight for the past 43 years. I admit it, I've been fortunate, I have good genes and have remained reasonably healthy and very active. I've never gone for fad diets, and never bought into the latest this or that of nutrition gurus. Instead, I try to avoid snacks, try to eat only when I'm hungry, try to eat a balanced diet that includes most anything, and rarely eat out. I've learned to listen to my body when it comes to food and I find that it's pretty darn smart if my ears are open..
- Technique work is probably more important than merely more training, particularly as you age. Remember, if you're an endurance lifer like me, you probably don't need lots and lots of miles in the pool, etc. Instead, get some technical coaching and retool your techniques, because the old dog can learn new tricks. Before Kona 2011 I knew I wasn't going to be able to run as many miles as I'd hoped (feel free to train in Saudi Arabia in June, July, August and September!) and would therefore probably not be able to rely on the old trump card of a fast marathon. Consequently, I reconfigured my approach to the race. Rather than saving the best for last, which I knew wasn't going to happen, I decided to go after the swim and bike and then do my very best to hold on in the run. Since swimming had traditionally been my much weaker leg of the three (in '84 in Kona, for example, I had top 10 times in both bike and run), making it the prima ballerina meant that I needed to do some serious reworking of my swim technique, and attitude. I worked with a number of different folks, completely reconstructing my freestyle technique and mindset in the process, and in the end had easily the best swim performance relative to my competition of any of the four Hawaii Ironman I've competed in (2nd best out of the top 10 in my age group). And it didn't end there. Now, even when I go swimming with no looming competitive goal, I love to swim and think of myself in no small part as a swimmer. This is a profound change in my sense of self as a triathlete, and it probably saved my podium finish down the stretch in Kona.
- Context is key as you get older. By that I mean, sure, be competitive and go for as good a performance as you are able to, but do it within the personal, professional and logistical context of your time and ability. When I first went to Kona in '84, triathlon was all I thought about, all I wanted to do and pretty much did do. I had no wife, no kids, no job to speak of. Although I was in graduate school at the University of Michigan, my part-time student status was expressly designed to allow me to train and race to my heart's content. Fast-forward nearly three decades and wife, children, friends, job - you name it - can make training and racing take a quick back seat. Legion are the cautionary examples of older triathletes who lost jobs, or marriages, or health, or variations of all three, in their quest to make it to Kona. Be sure to strive for balance in your life as you train for an Ironman and keep all aspects of your training within context. Train early when you can, while your family is still asleep. Keep your workouts rich in quality and don't stress less quantity, and that way you can save on time. Allow your lifestyle to incorporate aspects of the fitness you aspire to - push the lawn mower, bike commute, walk to the store, pull or push your children in sleds or buggies if you can, use stairs rather than alternatives. Given the choice, be active.
