Do you save for retirement? Or do you spend everything you have, today.

I think there's a parallel

I'm 56 this year and had a fairly miserable 2018 with nagging ailments causing me to pull out of one half and do a 10k and my local half at subpage fitness.

Hottest summer ever in the UK missed due to frame damage from a pothole.

Yes I would take 3 great years as long as I could run and ride.

I've had an ever declining amount of activity and motivation the last few years.

The mere fact of being alive at age 75 would be a victory in itself--I'm decades from that, but still, to complete a triathlon & outlive the others you grew up with has to feel like a gold medal at the Olympics.

No way I'd trade a few podiums for longevity after 50.

im very VERY fortunate that i work for a major company that has a really great pension plan as well as a 401k that they match a certain percentage of contributions.

if i was left to my own devices im not sure how studious i would be regarding saving for retirement honestly.

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

I'm 60. I was competitive in most sports I tried in HS (6 letters) and college (started as a defender on the school soccer team). I could run a 5' flat mile and a 17' 5k. Then I really didn't do any "training" for YEARS! Rode a cheap Walmart mountain bike for 30 mins a day for a year or today, but I didn't really enjoy it because I didn't understand training.

I did watch my weight and did a lot of outdoor stuff, but no real hiking and things I would call "workouts". (I told my wife I was too vain to be fat.)

Four and half years ago I thought, "you know a lot of folks my age are in really bad shape. I should probably at least walk a couple of miles a day."

To make a long story short, that 2 mile walk on day 1 turned into half marathons and then registering for my first HIM (Galveston 4/5/2020) which was cancelled at the last minute and now training for Augusta in Sept.

You talk about aches and pains. Guess what. If you *don't* do anything, you'll have all those aches and pains anyway. They'll just be in different places and for different reasons.

So, you can go into and through your retirement years with aches and pains from training and competing against yourself or others in your AG, or you can have them by sitting on your butt. Everyone has to make the choice.

Personally, I enjoy the training. Until last month I did *all* my training by myself because I couldn't find anyone slow enough to train with me. I finally found a strong 42yo who will ride "slow" for my weekly long rides on Fridays. He pushes me at the end of the rides and just in the last three weeks I've seen tremendous improvements. My quads and calves are muscle sore from working out, but I like it.

I'm taking it slowly (my last HM was my fastest at 10:50/mi, which finally put me in the top half of my AG). I figure I have time to continue to improve and maybe one day I'll be in top 10 for my AG (like in college).

I can see it would really be satisfying to be a top 3 in a "big" race and maybe if I was 45 I would make the trade. However, I'd hope I would chose to not take it.

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Not a coach. Not a FOP Tri/swimmer/biker/runner. Barely a MOP AGer.
But I'm learning and making progress.

See it this way:

STAGNATION = IMPROVEMENT when you're over 45

I have another story: I started triathlon at 45.
Still getting better (58 now).

 
It's totally a personal question, so no right answer. As someone who just turned 45 I can relate to it being a little harder than it used to be and I definitely feel like I am in the mode of maintaining and staying healthy than anything else.

I think the answer for me is no, at this point I am not getting any better than I already was. To the extent I could train a lot harder to slow the decline, its not worth it, because it is still a decline either way. But I have been competing for 20 years, so it is easier for me to conclude that with certainty than for someone who has had a shorter journey.

I would offer two factors to consider as part of your personal decision.

1. At this point it is pretty clear this season is a wash, so if you go for it you are starting at 46. At our age, I think a year can make a pretty noticeable difference, at least in terms of what it will take off of your "ultimate" potential. I originally had some relatively lofty goals for this season, like this was going to be the last time I was going to take a shot at couple of races that are important to me. However, this whole COVID thing threw a wrench in that and I'm not sure if I will be physically and mentally motivated to give it one more shot when I am 46.

2. Not sure I fully understand your edited goals. For example, if you realistically could improve your 5K PR, I can see the satisfaction in that. Or likewise, if you are good enough to win a race outright or make the overall podium if you train harder, satisfaction there as well. But if the extra work is just to come in 5th overall instead of 10th, or just not lose as much off your 5K PR it seems less interesting, or not worth the downside. I guess I am saying you need to decide for yourself if you care about incremental goals (a little better) or more discrete (you either PR, or make an overall podium or win). If it is the latter and you feel it is possible, then I can see why one would take the risk.

The one motivator could be, and this is my personal observation, is I feel that the competition is not what it used to be. I've done more than a few local type races where the top of the field is mostly all masters guys. Really this is usually the case, so even though I am getting slower I usually still place as high as I ever did. So it's not a bad time for a motivated masters guy to seize the day, although your most serious competition may be the other masters. This is just in more local, state level races where I happen to live, so your case may be different.

I’m 50. I definitely am more cautious and able to still be competitive. More strength training and quality, during speedwork careful, seeking softer turf for longer runs. And, have a good coach who understands the dynamic.

Edit: I have had injury setbacks just to mention last few years. The above precautions are a result of that. FWIW

I'm 65 now. Still doing tri's of any distance, active in multiple other sports as time and work permit.

No, 3 years of awesomeness in trade for never competing again. Nah.


You know, I think the real variable is individual personality. My take is that as long as I have breath, I'm always trying to get better in some way, shape, or form. I do believe in the value of discomfort for producing those changes- exercise is one of my favorite flavors of discomfort. You can call it competition-that word applies, although not perfectly. Perhaps in the sense of competing against the aging process.

It's just my nature to compete. I don't really compete against others much anymore. I just want to push myself. Races are fun forums to push a bit, share the experience, compare your results to peers and see if the tweaks your making are helpful or detrimental.

I accept the reality of physiological changes over time- but the variability of the degree of those changes is a huge. Recovery is something I put a lot of effort into. Understanding stress, immune system function, how to maintain muscle mass- all important factors in how I compete these days. I don't want to have epic efforts and then crawl for a week. I want to be able to push, and then have high functioning the next day too. And that is do-able, if you care to think your way through it and apply the lessons learned.

A little bit more than my .02

A friend of mine used to say "Alive is a great way to start the day; take it from there"

Tragically, he passed away suddenly before he was even 40

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

This.

I'm 46, been doing endurance stuff since forever, triathlons probably for 12 years or so. I'm a FOMOP AGer - made a podium once. Recovery is harder and slower than it was 5 or 10 years ago. Some days I feel like a Goddess, some days like a Little Ol' Lady. I don't care. I love swimming, biking, running, hiking, mountaineering, ski-ing etc just for the heck of it, and want to keep doing it when I really am a little old lady, so no, I'm not gonna kill myself now. I'm gonna stay smart, and sometimes that means throwing in an extra rest day, crushing myself a little less and coughing up the $$ for regular massages. That's a trade I'm more than willing to make! When I can no longer do that, then I'll take up basket weaving. Hopefully, that day's a long way away.

Obviously with everything else that is going on this thread got rejuvenated. Which is a bit like AG racing.

If you were never a college star, professional athlete in one of the three disciplines then the best you can ever hope for is to win on a day none of those show up.
But you can have a life long experiment with where your passion takes you. And for that 3 years is a drop in the bucket.

I have been discovering for the last 25 years that everytime I got as good as I could be, I wasn't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNLUS0o69wQ

Really interesting question especially in the context of all the events being cancelled.

Without having read through all the responses to your original post, to me the answer lies on what motivation your training/racing provides. I've been in some form of competitive sports since I could could ride my bike to the lake to race sailboats (about 10.) For me, I think that in the past the training/racing efforts provide more of a the 'journey is more important than the destination' type of answer.

With that being said though, I have been chasing a goal that has been elusive because of some persistent injuries. This year the stars have seemed to become aligned and the training has been going really well, with more volume and improvement than in a long time, and the goal was appearing reachable, until COVID and the event was cancelled for 2020.

I'm at a racing age of 63 this year, and I don't know how long that type of intensity can be maintained, so maybe your proposal, to be able to train with great health to prepare for the Goal, and then pull the plug afterwards sounds like something I might seriously consider.

Hmmmm