I am so, so proud of you...you go with your thread start girl! Here we go Womens...

14.7 including potty breaks and lights isn't that "effen slow" for 60 miles. That's a solid ride. Do you wear a HRM? How'd that look? If not, what was your perceived exertion, 1-10, 1 being kickin it on the couch with bonbons and 10 being max sprint to go after the last yard of fabric that would be just perfect for your dream quilt?

If you can say 7+, you had a good ride:)

Better yet, how many of your 54 year old friends logged 60 miles today? How many of them do HIMs?

I'm not going to allow you to feel bad about your speed. It's just not allowed. OK? :)

Btw, I beat myself up for speed all of the time. I think self-flagellation and desire to do tris are coded on the same gene.

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Trying to fight gravity on a planet that insists

As I stood on the beach one early morning with my coach and lamented about how I am *always* the last one to finish the drills, the last one to finish a set, the last one in the group ALL the time, she just looked at me and said "Yeah but you're ahead of 99% of the population because you are out of bed and HERE on the beach." True dat.

Firstly - brilliant effort for giving it a crack! i know many women in their 50's who spend most of their time complaining about their hot flushes and being generally allergic to any form of physical exercise! i have a relative who is 54, obese, and has EVERY EXCUSE UNDER THE SUN to NOT do any form of exercise or anything remotely healthy....so from me, i think you are doing an awesome job being out there, cranking out a 60 mile ride and competing regardless of being not the front of the BOP. Well done and thankyou for reminding us that being FOP is not always the reason why we do these things... you're being healthy and motivational for so many who don't podium every race but still get out there and do this crazy sport for fun.

On your speed - do you train with a group or coach? Your swim could probably speed up with some tips and training on speed and power through the stroke. Like the previous poster for your run and ride if you don't wear a HRM then you can do some specific training at different levels of perceived exertion rather than just plugging away at the same level all the time and that can lead to big pay offs in power and speed in a race. Best thing would be club/group/squad training sessions to improved technique and speed.

But in the end, the question is are you having fun? if the answer is yes, then you're onto a winner, no matter where in the pack you finish a race.

Good on you and keep it up :)

Can you get some swim coaching/lessons? The good thing about that being a technical sport is some changes will make some immediate times cuts. At 50-55 min for 2k you probably have some technical issues, and those are fairly easy fixes with instant gratification.

It's cool to ride 60 miles at any speed.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

as others have said - YOU RODE 60 MILES TODAY

my patients think I am nuts that I ever ride that far, and think I am "an athlete" - yeah a really slow one - but we are out there doing it, over 50

I will never win (well as I said in one of the other threads maybe when I am 80 and the only one in the age group) but I am out there doing this - which lets me eat more :)

so what if you are slow? unless you are a pro triathlete who cares. Let the guys have their pissing contests about how fast they are - they can all cross swords as much as they want and pound their chest and only consider someone who does IM in 10 hours or less a real triathlete.

fuck them.

In my run with my marathon training group yesterday, some are training for a half marathon and some for a full. We start together and then the halfs turn around & head back, fulls go further and then turn back. I was running with a number of women in the half group who were running 9 miles, the fulls were running 16. Everyone one said to me "how far are you going?" I answered "16". They each said "oh I am only going 9 miles". I had to tell them how amazing they are for running 9 miles and what an achievement it is!

So I say the same to you: 60 miles is an incredible achievement! you are amazing! You are in the top percentile of all people in the country in athletic achievement!! Please don't disparage your accomplishments - you are a gifted and lucky human being!!!

While I agree with the rest, myself, at 52, I personally wouldn't be satisfied. If you're the same, for the bike, check in the main forum for a thread on FTP increasing. Also check for a thread about a 45km TT and one of the very last posts links to a roadie forum on increasing speed. if you don't use power you can go by HR or RPE but I've found to get faster in teh water and on the bike I have to go faster and harder. try negative splitting. I always try to negative split my rides and runs. I have no advice on run speed as I don't mind (yet being slow there) and as it is so potentially easier for injury, that would be my last sport to get speedy in at our ages.

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

Yup, I would give it a 7+ and this early in the season, not too bad(I have come to understand from these responces!)
I can't afford a coach but I could afford a couple lessons in the pool-I will look at that. I train 100% alone these days and I do have a HRM I need to use:)
My poor old bike is 12 years old but is a good one and I trust the ole girl.
I have Raleigh 70.3 coming up in 12 weeks.......speed aside, so far I have gotten in this 60 miler, a couple of 10 mile "runs" at 4/1 and a couple of 3000 yd swims. Going forward I will add a short run to my rides and probably top out at 2-3 70 milers, 2 13 mile runs and several more 3000+ swims. Hopefully this will be sufficient to finish.
A great race for me is to beat the cut offs in plenty of time so i can enjoy the day and have fun!
Thanks for the feedback, ladies.........see, that wasn't so bad posting. Thanks,Lucky, for pushing us off the cliff!

I'm just going to reiterate what everyone else has said:

You rode 60 freaking miles. 'Nuff said.

I'm 52 and can relate! I'm usually MOP, but it seems like there's an influx of fast runners who have decided to join the triathlon scene and I'm being pushed toward the BOP. There are some newcomers in my age group who are running low-7-minute miles for sprint tri's and high-7 to low-8s' for Olympic distance. One is also strong in the swim and bike and routinely finishes 10+ min ahead of the 2nd place finisher in sprints and up to 25-30 min for Olympics. Even those who aren't so great on the swim and bike kill me on the run, which is frustrating sometimes. BUT... two things. 1) We're out here and showing ourselves and the world that women in their 50's (and up!) can be fit and fabulous, and 2) I was complaining about being slow and found out the person I was talking to was even slower even though she trained hard. I felt horrible - I don't ever want to make someone who is trying her best feel bad about herself. I was a late bloomer and did my first race when I was 45, but I haven't given up on improving - and if I quit improving, I'm going to start "age-grading" all of my workouts ;-)

I have been slow my entire life....and the deceleration only increases as I age.
Here is my attitude : If I honestly put in a true effort,I am doing just as much work as anyone else on a given ride/race/training session. The fact that they- usually meaning 90+% of the others in the "race"- are faster means nothing more than the simple fact that they are faster.
It does NOT mean that they are better. It does NOT mean that you are worse.

Each time you train or race, recognize that you did something that made you stronger, healthier and a better than YOU were before you began . Take credit for the effort you made and the work that you did on its own merit.
I believe that it is sometimes even more challenging for those of us who are slower because , while everyone has a voice telling her/him that s/he is not "good/fast/strong/thin/athletic/(insert your bete noire here)" enough, those of us in the back of the pack tend to have more time to mull on our perceived shortcomings.
I train with a bunch of pros and people who qualify for Kona every year. My HIM best is a few hours short of their IM averages. Every training session is a challenge - more mentally than physically, often. What I say to myself is , "Come back here. Come back to YOUR (my) work. ". An honest session is the only thing over which we have control.
You, my dear, rock. You rock for your effort, your hard work and your perseverance. Most of all , you rock because you are you. Ride on !