I stopped swimming, but still train about 10 hours a week and don't plan on doing any racing this summer. Haven't finished a race since July 2012. I just enjoy being reasonably fit and prefer to achieve that through cycling and running.

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I wanna go fast!

I stopped competing about 6yrs ago and at the same time completely altered my training. I do swim/bike/run but more for overall fitness now and I spend much more time strength training. My wife on the other hand runs 40+ miles per week and has never done a race of any kind. She's definitely capable of AG placing at some local races (~mid 18 5k, ~40 10k), but just has no desire.

I know someone who runs 45-50 miles a week every week and has not done any organzied race in over a decade.

I can't say I've really "raced" in the last 5 years. Sure, I've entered a few events, and when I'm there to actually "race" I'll give it my best, and occasionally I do pretty well at the AG level. But I don't do a lot of run training, rarely do any speed work, and almost no swimming. I just throw in enough wet work to be able to make it through the event distance decently.

My main thing has been fondo's and low-key tri's the last few years. More fun. I just find myself getting more immersed in cycling now (riding to ride, and building).

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Some are born to move the world to live their fantasies...

https://triomultisport.com/
http://www.mjolnircycles.com/

What is a race?

If I wait around at the end of a half marathon, I am certain to find many female participants who have completed the event without harming their makeup.
Yet at my old track club, there was a 60 year old guy who could (and would) close the last 400 of an 800 in 70 seconds. (He didn't race. At least formally. When he clipped you at the line at the end of your 800 interval however, you might be a little skeptical of his no racing philosophy).

Personally, I think training without a personal challenge is pointless. Yet, who is to say what that challenge should be or how much you should pay for it?

I have an infant at home and have not found time to get ready for a race. I would love to race again, but I don't want to race unless Im in good shape. I raced a lot in the past, but now Im lucky to get in a 30 min-40min run five days a week.

I really need to work on my time management skills.

You should ask the inverse:

How many people attempt to race without training?

I would venture to guess there are a lot more of those people, especially in the swim.

"I don't need to swim a lot, its only 750 m and I have a $900 wet suit. No problem."

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

If I didn't race, I'd probably never swim or run again.

I'll never give up riding, however.....and I'd play more golf.

Training is what allows me to do what I really enjoy - compete. My preferred racing is bike racing, but sine I am on blood thinners, that is out....so I do tri's. training is a necessary "evil", if you will. I don't enjoy logging laps at the pool (but I do enjoy OWS) and running has been nothing but an injury-prone activity for me.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

I don't keep a log any more, but including cycle commuting I probably average 8-10 hours a week of SBR training over the year, and haven't done a multisport race in 6 years. Last triathlon was the weekend before I got married, pretty sure that's no coincidence :)

I just like staying fit, like being outdoors, and have a lot of friends who like cycling in particular so training is a good social thing. Will still enter the occasional gran fondo/sportive type event with friends, but we treat them mainly as a big training day where a group of us will normally ride together for most of it. Did a marathon last year with a couple of friends, but ended up doing a lot of training and the event itself on my own as with no draft advantage it's a lot harder running with friends than cycling with them, so don't think I'll be doing any more run events. Don't have any organised events in my diary this year, but have sorted out a few cycling challenges (one on-road, one off) with friends for the summer to get the competitive juices flowing.

I've been swimming year round every year since I started triathlon even though I haven't done a triathlon since August 2012. The cycling is here and there mostly due to winter and crappy roads out here in DC while I've been doing more running events lately so focused there. I'm still renewing my USAT membership too..my first triathlon since '12 will be IMMD so I'm glad I've been swimming. ;)

Duathlon.

@ AutomaticJack

That's probably true. The idea of the extra buoyancy that a wetsuit provides gives a lot of folks the (incorrect) idea that any swimming will prepare them. I won't lie, I thought the same things and had the same cavalier attitude about swimming, but at some point the idiot in me left and the smart person came back and told me that a body of water full of thrashing bodies is not the place to swim in a race for the first time...without preparation.

Yea, and I'm a runner, but darn that first run is painful;)

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I wanna go fast!

the real question is "does anybody not train, not race but still post on ST?"

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Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.

i injured my shoulder 3 years ago. i stopped swimming first due to pain and after that stopped running. however continued on a bike and got into road racing.

first time in 3 years i have raced 0 running and 0 swimming since injury. the most shocking thing to me was in a field of 130 i came in 16th in a 750m swim. again 0 swimming in 3 years.

Stopped everything in '10 when my late wife was diagnosed with cancer and spent 4 months bedside with her before she died in Feb. '11. Then had two ablations for a-fib myself in '11. Have ran one 1/2 marathon, one 5k and two 2 milers since, that's it.

I'm ramping up running again though and every now and then go for a ride with my new wife. But seriously doubt I'll ever race anything for more than fun again maybe once a year (compared to 10 - 15 races a year when I was really "training" generally including one or two marathons and at least one long distance tri).

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Rick, "Retired" hobbyist athlete
Trying to come back slowly from acute A-Fib

a change in job and finances last year cut my training a lot. registered early for 2 races this year and those will probably be it for the year. I started racing myself on a home course last year and will do that more often this year, prob 3x's / mo. Gives me something to work towards, and time comparisons are easy since it's the same course each time. I'll miss the competition, but that's where I am for now.

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Great things never come from comfort zones.

Isn't that called "exercising"?

I gave it up when I turned sixty. The buzz was just completely gone. Haven't raced for three years but still swim and ride semi regularly and run a bit. Do a lot of x-country skiing, especially this past winter. I want to stay fit but don't particularly worry about being tri specific fit since I'm not racing now. My wife is training for IM Tremblant so I will do much of the ride training with her but would rather walk on coals than do the run training.

"the real question is "does anybody not train, not race but still post on ST?"

Isn't that called the Lavender Room?

Don't train, don't race. Post all the time. Not much in the tri forum though. Everyone takes themselves too seriously in this room.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

It is my opinion that one needs a "challenge" to validate and measure one's training. (It is not important what the challenge is. One can pick their own "challenge").

But what about a "challenge" without training?
That seems truly comical. The "event" becomes like a work of abstract art. It is something that is only referential to itself. "If a tree falls in a forest...."

"Well, I completed a half marathon in 3 hours, off of 0 training.
That proves".........
NOTHING.
An athletic challenge strait from Macbeth.
"An event done by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing".

Due to family and work, I end up racing only 1-2x/year, but I train year round. I often go 6 months without a race. (Wish I could do more, but right now, not happening.)

I didn't race in 2009-2010 mostly due to changing jobs and some nagging injuries, but still trained as much as I could.

I love training in all three disciplines and will likely keep doing so as long as I am physically able, even if I never did another race. I still love the endorphin rush.

I'm turning 61 in a few weeks, and am definitely starting to see more effects of age. In particular, it takes me a lot longer to recover from a race or a hard high-intensity workout.

I still enjoy competing in races, and aging up to the thinner M60-64 age group actually got me on the podium a couple of times last year. But if I ever get to the point where I can't be reasonably competitive or it stops being fun, then I'll have no problems walking away. I've got enough other hobbies to occupy my time.

Mark