Triathlon at Retirement

Photo by Med Gadon In my last post, I was acutely suffering from an injury, probably a pinched nerve. I am relieved to report, I am doing so much better! My first action was to go swimming in cold water, and I right away felt so much better. After resting a few days, I thought I would try a bike ride with my friends. I told them I might not be able to follow them, I was tired and in pain before we even started. After half an hour I felt good, yes, a little pain, but not anything that would hold me back. The more we biked, the better I felt, and I pushed hard at the end. It is amazing how exercise is the best antidote to pain and inflammation. I admit I also had help by anti-inflammatory inflammation, but the bigger relief comes after hard exercise.  Friends and family agree, arthritis pain and inflammation are reduced by exercise. It is a story I hear time and time again, even with quite severe problems. It is counter intuitive, but please try it. It has helped me so many time...

This has been a good athletic year for me. It started with Vasaloppet cross country ski race March 1 in Sweden, an old ambition of mine. Finally, I did it, and it went so well.  In mid-April the Tour de France organization came to Texas and I joined their amateur race/ride, placing 2nd in the 60+ age group on 60 hilly miles.  Then, the inaugural multisport festival in Irving, TX in late April - early May. Three races for me, two of them US national championships, resulting in a bronze medal in mixed sprint triathlon relay and a 7th place in draft legal sprint triathlon, and a 1st on the Olympic distance (non-championship). I hold the mixed sprint relay as the most fun race of the year. In June it was time for World Championship in Montreal, always exciting. A 28th place in individual sprint and 7th place in mixt sprint relay. I enjoyed every minute. Back to Sweden for swimming over the Arctic circle in the midnight sun, and an MTB race on the Vasa trail, both well worth doing....

I have started to use energy gels on longer competitions. I wish I had done that earlier; it really has helped my performance. Previously, I have only relied on energy drinks and apple juice, usually diluted with water. On advice from training buddies, I tested using gels during training a few times. I think it had some effect, but nothing really game changing. In hindsight, I can see I did not take enough. Recommended consumption is one gel every half hour during endurance events.  On my half ironman in April 2021, I only took one energy gel during the whole race, it was in T2. It probably helped me a bit, but the real game changer was Red Bull. On the run, I took a cup of Red Bull by mistake, I thought it was sports drink. The energizing effect was obvious, I felt it right away. Worried about too much caffeine intake, I swapped sports drink and Red Bull on every other drink station for the rest of the run. It was still hard, but the extra stimulant and sugar made it doable, and t...

I always feel a lot of pressure at the Kerrville triathlon which is in my hometown. This year, I placed 2nd in the W60-64 division, quarter ironman distance (1100 yards swim, 29 miles bike and 10.4 miles run). The competitions are very well organized and set in a beautiful environment, but I have difficulty enjoying it.   On Friday afternoon, I volunteered at the sprint bike check-in for 5 hours, and it was hot, over 90f (32C). I already knew from my experience last year, that to avoid overheating on the run was the main challenge. I have spent most of the summer in much cooler temperatures in Sweden, and only about 3 weeks in Texas heat, so I worried that I was not fully acclimatized.  I prepared as much as I could, I did several bike and run workouts in the midday heat the weeks before the competition. On the morning of the event, I brought a small cooler full of ice and a water bottle to transition 2.  The Guadalupe River where swimming was taking place, was too h...

I guess we all know that it is harder to perform in hot weather, but I am coming to realize that the difference is bigger than I imagined. I keep statistics of all my training and competition, and the evidence is clear: hot weather is disastrous for me.  All my record times are in the winter season. The trend is clearest in running. Below is a comparison of my times on a 3.1 miles flat run course, and a 2.8 miles hilly run course. I also show temperature and heart rate. Best times are in the colder weather, and on top of that, my heart rate is lower despite the record time. Heart rate is increased in warmer weather. On many occasions during warmer weather, I think I have done really well, I pushed harder than normal, and the feeling of exertion is almost unbearable. Then I see the time, not good and I am disappointed. Thinking back, it has been a pattern my entire life, winter training is going really well, I am doing good times, but when temperatures rise, performance drops like a...

Yes, Vadstena Triathlon August 27 in Sweden used the courtyard of a medieval castle for transition. It is probably the most beautiful triathlon I have participated in. This post will partly read like tourist information. The city of Vadstena is old, picturesque and pretty with a castle built by king Gustaf Wasa around 1545, and a nunnery and monastery inaugurated already 1384. I arrived a day early and walked in the city and then biked on small roads, looking at old churches and a stone age burial site. Would not mind returning and do a longer bike tour around lake Vättern. This competition also served as the Swedish Championship on Olympic Distance. I had signed up two years earlier for a competition in Stockholm, but due to covid, the event got postponed two years and new construction in Stockholm forced the event to Vadstena. Now I found myself at the top of my age group on a distance that is not my best. Well, I compete to enjoy, and although I was far from medals, it was one of my...

I was matched with Andrea on the Mixed Team Relay in Irving in early May, and it was fairly humbling. I am used to think of myself as an achiever, starting triathlons at 60, completing a half ironman, placing at nationals, being part of Team USA etc. All this because I was lucky to be able to retire at 60. Andrea will be 76 in 2022 and she started triathlon training at 72.  She completed a half ironman at 74. I thought I was tough to do three events on consecutive days on the multisport festival; Andrea did 5 and placed on the podium in most of them. She is still working full time as a data scientist. By the way, I noticed that she earned a master's in data analytics at 68, that on top of a long and distinguished career in health care. Hats off to you and way to go Andrea!

Fun, Fun, Fun and more Fun. Two men and two women made up teams for mixed relay and get this: all team members had to race three disciplines! Swim was 250m, bike 5km and run 1.2km. It was fast paced and exciting. Transition speed was important. I had no team, but I put in my name for the organizers to find members from the pool of available athletes. I was placed in team KatDaddy with Curt and KC from New York and Andrea from Georgia. Our combined ages were 270, which made us one of the oldest teams, but Curt and KC are absolute top athletes in their age groups. First leg was for guys and Curt started. Less than 20 minutes later he changed to me, and I jumped into the water. Wetsuit was allowed, but I decided to not use it for such a short distance. In T1, I skipped biking shoes and went straight for running shoes to save a few seconds in T2. I got a good draft on the bike, and as planned, I passed people in T2. Run took only 4.30, and then KC and Andrea completed the relay. Despite be...

This year, USA Triathlon collected several multisport national championships into a multi-day event. Great for efficiency, no need to travel all over the USA to different venues, but it also makes for a tight and exhausting competition schedule. April 28 opened with Nationals in Super Sprint Triathlon and a non-championship open water swim competition. April 29 had Nationals in Draft Legal Sprint Triathlon and Aquathlon. April 30 Nationals in Duathlon and Age Group Mixed Relay (a first!). May 1 Nationals in Standard Aquabike and Draft Legal Duathlon and a non-championship (but qualifier for the World Championship 2023) in Olympic Distance Triathlon. Wow, a lot! If you signed up for 5 races or more, you received a special award, and many people did. A few signed up for the maximum possible: 8 events (2 a day). I restricted myself to the Draft Legal Sprint Triathlon, the Relay and the world qualifier in Olympic Triathlon. There was so much going on, I will make several posts of this fest...

It is not great to be old and find your physique declining every year. On the other hand, with time, I have gathered some helpful experiences.  For one, I am convinced that our environment and relationship to people around us shape our success far more than most people think. Too many setbacks and put downs make us shrink, mentally and physically. Yes, physically too. We grow on success. I guess too much success can destroy people, it is not something I have personal experience from. I have noticed that easy early success for children can be negative for them, they do not value what they can achieve and throw their talent away. How can it be valuable, it was so easy, right?  photo by George Becker (Pexels) Here is a scenario I have seen time and time again: A slower cyclist/runner falls behind in a friendly training session, the gap just gets bigger and bigger. It is not fun for anyone, but especially not for the person behind. They are struggling and suffering on the edge of ...

Sometimes you can end up in a situation where you definitely are the least able athlete. In every event, someone is last. It does not have to mean they are out of their depth; they can be the slowest person in a strong field. The world championship for example, even the lowest place competitor is a great athlete. As I am older, I have to accept that I may be the slowest athlete sometimes. But I have a rule; I never sign up for anything where I think there is a risk I will become a burden to the organizers or other competitors. I make sure that I am adequately prepared for every event I enter. Noone should for example sign up for an Ironman without a long period of training beforehand. But still, an Ironman may be in your capacity, you just know that you will be far behind the winner. Maybe they don't offer your age group and you have to compete against younger athletes. Don't let the worry about being last stop you. I have seen people being so worried about being last that they...

It is now the tail end of winter, and I will write about what I did to complement my training last summer in Sweden:  orienteering.   Orienteering is fairly popular in Sweden. It is so important to enjoy the workouts, and orienteering is perfect for longer runs. Running through forest and on rough trails is hard and demands stability in the ankles. A lot of small muscles are used in the constantly varied terrain. During my last orienteering, I had an average heart rate of 147 and topped at 172, during the 40 minutes race.  Being focused on the map and finding checkpoints, I did hardly notice how hard the body was working.  Of course, if you are a beginner, you may be walking more than running as those controls are hard to find... It is interesting that an average orienteering race in Sweden only costs about 20 dollars to enter. For that you get a professionally drawn special map, a course set in the forest designed for your age group and ability (there are hundreds o...

I know not to take fitness apps too seriously, but here we go again. Recently, I ran one of my regular routes on a new PR. Great, I might still be improving, despite age being against me. It was a chilly day (for Texas), about 52F (11C).  My first observation is that the Coros watch I am using right now gave me a distance of 2.61 miles and an elevation gain of 627 ft. Strava gave the same distance, but only a 371 ft elevation gain. Previous runs using Garmin have measured the distance to 2.60 mile and 313 ft in elevation. My Fitbit have given me 2.80 miles on the same route. I have got used to the discrepancy in distance, and I use Strava as the arbiter. Strava: 2.61 miles. 371 elev. gain Coros: 2.61 miles, 627 ft elev. gain Garmin: 2.60 miles, 313 ft elev. gain Fitbit: 2.80 miles, elevation gain not recorded This last time (Coros), I ran a PR with 35 seconds! This is a huge improvement, and I was deliberately trying for a new record, meaning that I pushed hard all the way to the e...

What works for best performance in a long run or bike ride? Start hard and push it as far as you can, or start in a more comfortable speed and increase at the end? It's the latter, when your mile (or km) times are getting faster as you go (negative splits), you are more likely to reach your best time. This is well known, and I have also tested it for myself on the treadmill.  To the left is an example of negative splits on a recent training run. Starting too hard is always a mistake, you cannot will yourself to keep it up to the end, your body is actually  unable  to respond. I am not going into the physiology of why, but I have enough experience to say that a too ambitious opening will fail to make a good time and it's not a lack of willpower. When I did my half ironman earlier in the year, I was just focused on completing the course, not to reach a specific time or place. I managed the energy well, holding an even pace, and the final run ended up as my best performance ...

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...

For the first time, a US National Championship in remote racing was held during a week in November. Remote racing is not the same as virtual racing, key difference is that all results are being converted to a standardized course. Software by RaceX is applied in an attempt to take away real differences in the participants various courses and conditions.  It is a bit confusing, but   Remote Racing is powered by  RaceX  which  is a division of   Predictive Fitness , which uses data to improve training efficiency, and is in turn used by   TriDot , a company that offers triathlon training. For those who want to learn more, I attach links at the end of this text. I saw the invitation on my Facebook feed and for 50 dollars signup fee, I decided to give it a go. First, I thought carefully about where I could race safely at full speed. Swim had to be in a standard-length pool, and bike and run starting and ending at the same spot. After I had chosen my location...

It can be confusing, but there are two US National Championships on the sprint distance: non-draft, and draft legal. The age group non-draft sprint happened in Milwaukee, WI back in August in connection with the Olympic distance (also non-draft) event. These are very well attended races that you have to qualify for to even be allowed to enter. In Milwaukee, there were 80 ladies in my age group. The draft legal championship in Tempe, AZ is less competitive, and participation is open to anyone. The draft legal race was also held in Tempe 2019, and the 2021 version had the same swim and run course, but a slightly altered bike course. This year, I was almost 2 minutes faster on the swim, a little slower on the bike, and about a half minute slower on the run. I got a 4th place (again), about 1.20 from the 3rd position, but there was no possibility for me to reach 3rd place. So, I am satisfied with this race, especially as I have been unwell with shingles in October. My start was uncertain u...

I recently heard about another bike crash with broken bones involved.  Crashing on the bike is too common, biking is dangerous. I admit I brake on some downhills and tight turns, I know as a late comer to triathlon, that my biking skills are not the best. As much as I want to gain a few seconds, I rather be safe and bike another day. I often get left behind on downhills but so far, I have not had any crashes and I am trying to keep it that way. A few times I have fallen in slow motion with some scrapes as a result and once I tipped over in my own driveway, but no damage! Turning up is half the battle and you need to stay healthy and injury free. Think long term, never take risks on the bike or train with illness or pain. Yes, you may loose a little fitness, but you will actually be on the start line on race day. It is depressing to not be able to participate in a planned race, maybe a championship. Not to talk about potential long term harm to your health.      ...

If you are not driving to a far away event, it is a problem to bring the bike. Here are your options:  1. Rent a bike at location  2. Fly with your bike as luggage  3. Transport your bike with a commercial triathlon bike transporter  4. Drive anyway  5. Not go  1. I have tried renting in Sweden which resulted in a summer with no competitions at all. Basically, there are not that many competitive bikes to rent and I am not a common size. I have given up on that solution. On big events, local rentals run out quickly. 2. I have flown with my bike on several occasions and it works, but includes a lot of preparations. First you have to make sure that the plane you are boarding accept packed bicycles. Small planes do not, and popular routes can have black out dates for oversized luggage during peak season. For example, flying to Europe during the summer months with a bicycle is not allowed on many airlines. Cost for the bicycle is around $150-200 per leg. Cleari...

This was a really great race weekend. On Saturday, the Rookie Sprint, a slightly shortened course with only 300m open water swim and a 2 mile run, while the bike leg was 14 miles. On Sunday, Quarter and Half Distance of the ironman lengths. I was intending to do the sprint as I have been polishing my speed for the Sprint World Championships in Bermuda in October, but as the championships got cancelled due to corona, I decided to do the quarter distance at Kerrville instead. After all, I am no rookie anymore, and I am in my home town, right? The weekend came in with a cool front, which in September in the Texas hill country, is good news. I looked at the rookie race, and it was a glorious day, perfect temperatures, beautiful location and a flat course. Swim was in the Guadalupe river. The competition was big and well organized, I think about 1800 participants. Swim Exit Being a home competition, I definitely felt pressure to do well. I started to worry weeks in advance. Aches and pains ...