Triathlon at Retirement

The year went more or less as planned. The highpoint was probably that I completed a half Ironman in April on a decent time without incident. In May, I qualified for the World Championships in Bermuda, but it got cancelled in the last minute due to Covid. US Nationals in Milwaukee in August went ok, but not great, I was too slow on the bike. Did a better race on the draft legal championship in Tempe and ended up in 4th place. I had fun on several local competitions, so overall, I am happy with the year. I think my swimming has improved a little but not as much as I had hoped for. My technique is better but my upper body is just too weak. The running is holding more or less steady, biking is difficult to assess, but approximately the same as last year. I am more or less as fast as 2020, despite being a year older, so actually, I am getting a little better. Year 2022, I am 64 in January so I am the oldest in my age group. There is a little loss of ability every year, so my expectations f

I do not like swimming in cold water, but I don't dislike it as much as I used to. Cold water is soo...cold. I am from Sweden and lets face it, the water is cold there, even in the summer. You either tolerate the temperature, or you never swim outdoors. When I lived in Houston, Texas, I did not have to deal with that, I swam in pools that would get too hot in the summer. When starting triathlons, I was so relieved to find that the open water temperature on my first race was comfortable. But I soon had to confront lower temperatures. In 2018, I was to swim a Swedish open water event called Vansbrosimningen . I had bought a full cover wet suit and I went to Sweden in early June to start training in a lake. The water temperature was maybe 57f (14C). This is not extremely cold by any means, but it felt icy to me, even with the wetsuit on. My neck almost immediately locked up, everything that came out of the wetsuit ached when water contact was made. I almost panicked, I can't do th