...or do they die off? Seriously, after reading Slowman's recent essay on performance and aging it made me think of a recent conversation with an aging elite triathlete.
This guy is 44 yrs old and has been doing triathlon for nineteen years. He seems very frustrated by the fact that each year he is getting a little bit slower. He's still darn fast and often a winner in his AG but slower than ten years ago when he was a top contender for over all, and laments the fact that age is gradually making him slower despite training harder than ever.
My situation is different in that I didn't do a tri until age 49 and every year (all three of them) since, I've been getting faster, mainly because I was so slow when first starting that I had no where else to go except up. In my AG my bike is usually FOP and my swimming MOP so I realize that if I ever started to take my BOP running part more serious then I could have a good chance at AG wins so have lots of reason/motivation to stay in the sport for a long time yet. Unlike my 44 yr.old friend, I have lots of potential to still get faster whereas he is gradually slowing down because he peaked at a much younger age. This makes me greatful to have started tri quite late in life because if I was slowing down I might lose interest or at least devote less time to training in favor of other hobbies.
We will all be on the down curve at some point in life. Don't know what I'll do with tri once my max peak is reached. So what is the consensus when you eventually max out your potential? Do some people then give up the sport and look for new challenges? Do you continue but just for fun and fitness?
What are your thoughts about this?
This guy is 44 yrs old and has been doing triathlon for nineteen years. He seems very frustrated by the fact that each year he is getting a little bit slower. He's still darn fast and often a winner in his AG but slower than ten years ago when he was a top contender for over all, and laments the fact that age is gradually making him slower despite training harder than ever.
My situation is different in that I didn't do a tri until age 49 and every year (all three of them) since, I've been getting faster, mainly because I was so slow when first starting that I had no where else to go except up. In my AG my bike is usually FOP and my swimming MOP so I realize that if I ever started to take my BOP running part more serious then I could have a good chance at AG wins so have lots of reason/motivation to stay in the sport for a long time yet. Unlike my 44 yr.old friend, I have lots of potential to still get faster whereas he is gradually slowing down because he peaked at a much younger age. This makes me greatful to have started tri quite late in life because if I was slowing down I might lose interest or at least devote less time to training in favor of other hobbies.
We will all be on the down curve at some point in life. Don't know what I'll do with tri once my max peak is reached. So what is the consensus when you eventually max out your potential? Do some people then give up the sport and look for new challenges? Do you continue but just for fun and fitness?
What are your thoughts about this?