Triathlon at Retirement

This summer, three of my training friends from Texas wanted to take part in my Swedish summer training experience. Especially, the open water swimming competition that goes across the Arctic Circle! In preparation, we have been open water swimming once a week in the Guadalupe River in Kerrville. (This is the same town and river that recently was devastated by floods). At one spot there is a dam, and a quite large lake is formed which is perfect for our swimming practice. Winters in Kerrville can be quite cold, and we kept going with our wetsuits until water temperatures went below 60f. We were well prepared for Arctic swimming! Sweden's weather decided to put my friends through the wringer. The spring and early summer was unusually cold and wet, and every day seemed colder than the previous. Our first practice swim had water temperatures of about 62f, (17C), the next day 61f (16C). We decided to use earplugs and neoprene hats under our swim caps.  First up was the popular Vansbro s...

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...