43 - not fast but with two young kids its why I do it. Until two years I was 94kg, now I'm 76 and I figure I need to keep up with them (2.5 and 6 months) for at least another 10 years.

Its interesting, I've friends about the same age with kids who are older, five to ten, and they're now getting quick enough to be a bit of a test. I've no doubt that if my kids swim (they WILL and they will ENJOY IT) that assuming that they're even half good they'll be crushing me before they're ten. Skiing wise though I suspect that I may be able to crush them for quite a bit longer than that.

I am doing long course - not very quickly at all - but I quite enjoy the day out and it gives me something to focus on and the family a holiday somewhere nice and I quite enjoy it

I'm still getting faster. But not fast. Racing against myself. 42.

The races are an excuse to put in the training.

---

_____________________________________
What are you people, on dope?

—Mr. Hand

Wait a tic

How dos strava give you a hip cyst?

Did you sue them too?

---

_____________________________________
What are you people, on dope?

—Mr. Hand

No the hip cyst was from intense running including lots of stair climbing. Well that was really all that I was doing at the time - flared up Oct last year. Didn't start the hard riding until this year and the running has almost ceased for now.

Are you doing much red line type work? It's that type of training that concerns me.

Everything on the bike is intervals >er than 90% of FTP - so not VO2 max, but long sessions of 20 mins at 95% 5 min rest.

Swimming is always hard

Running is not so hard

I'm not really sure on how many people drop dead from stroke or heart attack that you'd say were asymptomatic? its a thought but most of people that I know that have gone from either - with few exceptions - were not walking bill boards for a "healthy" lifestyle. Thats not to say I dont know any, a friend who's a fairly hard core runner just had stents but he also partied like a rock star for a long time prior to discovering his inner athlete

I'm sure you've thought of this, but maybe you could do more intensity in the less load-bearing disciplines and do more LSD running so you're strong enough to race long course but not debilitating yourself in training.

---

_____________________________________
What are you people, on dope?

—Mr. Hand

Just about to turn 41. Very rarely push myself to the limit running, simply causes too many leg injuries these days. I do still push myself as hard as ever on the bike, on the rowing machine, swimming, skiing. Spend more time anaerobic or redline training now than I did for most of my 30s, when I was racing long course and had a lot of time to train so used to do a lot of distance work, and some threshold work, but didn't go much beyond threshold very often. These days have 2 young kids which limits training time, I still train most days but keep it much shorter and often higher intensity than I used to. Am also much better about sleep and diet than I used to be.

As long as you're not being stupid (e.g. ignoring chest pains or breathlessness), I wouldn't worry about it. You never know what's going to get you - when I hear about a fit and active 40 year old having a heart attack I always think it's very sad but also file it alongside the stories of "my gran smoked and drank every day and never had a day sick until she died suddenly at 97". I.e. they're notable because they're unusual.

My dad is 47. Just finished the godzone adventure race. 520km, 5 days, 10 hours sleep. Age is definitely no barrier to pushing yourself physically and mentally

Replying to no one in particular.

Some of you guys should read this article about Lennard Zinn and his heart issues. Heart damage from too much high intensity work is more common than you'd think. A good friend in his mid-50's just found out he has some heart damage caused by not enough recovery time. You need more recovery as you age. Don't neglect it; and, get your heart checked on occasion. Catch it before it becomes irreversible.

---

''The enemy isn't conservatism. The enemy isn't liberalism. The enemy is bulls**t.''

—Lars-Erik Nelson

I'll be 47 in a few days.
2 years ago, I had a PE that almost killed me, then 3 months later a catastrophic bike crash.
I spent last year just healing.
My swim is getting better, my bike is a slower than I remember. But I think I'm fast. Not as fast as the young guns on my team. My run is a mess, but at least I can run !
I am doing a crossfit 2x a week to get some strength back.
I swim 3-4 x a week
I bike 2-3 x a week
I run 3-4 x a week.

I have a small child and my wife keeps a weary eye out. It's good that I have a job where I can take off for an hour at lunch time.

I am 43, no kids, in my 4th season of triathlons, sixth of running, and midpack in most races (I have finished everywhere from second place to fourth from last). I push myself, but not too hard. I have found that if I ramp things up too much I get either injured or sick. Also, if I am in a race and see someone collapse from heat or exhaustion, I always slow down, time goals be damned. I have no desire to push myself to the breaking point, and I am not willing to compromise my long-term health. No one is paying me to be out there racing. It is a hobby that is intended to keep me healthy and provide challenges. And I really, really do not want to be like some of the women my age that I work with who move like everything hurts because they don't take care of themselves and who think walking a mile is a lot of exercise.

If you have concerns about long-term effects on your health, it might be worthwhile to find a physician who specializes in sports medicine and get annual checkups. Most GPs aren't going to look at your health from the right perspective (they get really concerned about low heart rate, but completely ignore BP that is too low, for example), but someone who is used to dealing with athletes should be better. If you establish your baseline now and go for checkups every year, that will help pick out problems.

44 but in F 45-49. I push myself hard and I rarely see the point of phoneing in a workout. I never was a strong athlete so am currently motivated by setting new PR's. (I should pick a day and see if I can beat my 2 mi PR earned in HS track. Like I said, I was slow.) It's a bonus if I do well relative to my peers.

I know there will be a cross over though where I'll age out of new PR's and then have to find new motivation to work hard to be less fast than I was. Maybe then I'll re-embrace my initial goal of simply enjoying the activity and venue and not worry about the out come. Who knows.

I hardly know what to say to you though. I mean we all have expiry dates. How do you want to spend your days? Holding back?

---

To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

Still pushing my limits at 41 heading to 42 this year. I tried a marathon 2 years ago and it was fine, but I am really enjoying finding more speed in shorter stuff this year (5 and 10km runs and Olympic and Sprint Distance Tris).

My friend is a Kinesiologist and does Blood Lactate testing on me and that has really helped me over the past 3 years. I was injured a lot when I first got into running in my mid 30's. Now I can go into training with a good idea of what my current limits are and how I can push them just that little bit.

I don't do high mileage training but even at 50km running 4 times a week with 3 bike sessions and 2 swim sessions I have taken my 10km time from 48 mins to 36 mins in 5 years.

I figure I have a few more years to find my top end speed and then I might switch to some longer stuff and give endurance events a try.

---

Ian

49 this year and training just as hard as 6 years ago.

I just spent a week riding mountains in Georgia with a bunch of other 40 and 50 year olds, they aren't backing off either.

turning 43 this year, 3rd season of triathlons, ran some a couple years before that, but not much and not well. I am doing sprints and olys, so i race up there in the HRZ5 area, so i still do some high intensity training, high Z5 stuff on hills with the bike and VO2max intervals running. I don't do a lot of overall volume though, especially compared to some on ST. 12 hours would be a BIG week for me, usually keep it to 9-11 hours, less before/after races. weekly run milage is usually in the 20's. i have done more than 30 miles in one week exactly twice in the last 365 days, this past week being one because of a 1/2M race yesterday (new PR, under 1:30, front door brag for me, i didnt think i would get that one, woohoo).

i try to listen to my body, i am not afraid to skip a workout, or at least dial it back if im not feeling it, also i have slowly learned to stop trying to see how fast i can go easy. now my easy days are actually easy, and that has helped my hard days. my dad had a heart attack at about my age, but that was mainly from the smoking booze and diet, but it still lingers in my mind to pay attention. I see my doctor regularly at least once a year.

about 38,000 people died in the US driving last year. athletes having heart attacks always make the news, but it could happen for a lot of reasons besides them being athletes. perhaps those people would have had a heart attack much sooner in life if they weren't active...

bottom line do what you enjoy, if you enjoy going hard and fast, then do it, if it makes you nervous, then back off. its supposed to be fun.

44, absolutely push myself as hard as I can go at times, no worries. I still don't "feel" any older than 20.

I've read all that stuff, and there's still no definitive proof that exercise *causes* those heart issues. It certainly shows up during exercise, though.

The only definitive way I've heard to damage your heart through exercise is to do it during certain viral infections.

42 years old.

4th season in Triathlon, ex-smoker for 21 years (not smoked since starting triathlon)

If anything, I am pushing myself harder than ever before. I currently train anywhere between 10 and 17 hours depending on what happens with life. I do hard workouts most days, including trying to hang with much faster guys on the bike at least twice a week. Nearly every swim is comparatively hard. I do watch it on the run to make sure that I stay away from Injury, which I tend to do. At present, I am doing a tempo run on Mondays and easy runs the rest of the time.

When racing , I will be pretty close to my limits from start to finish. although I do tend to race sprints/olympics. This year I am planning on a half so will dial it down relatively, but still me as close to my limits as I can.

---

On the internet, you can be anything you want. It is a pity so many people choose to be stupid.

WTG on you HM PR! Liked your post too.

---

To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

Me too.

However, I've noticed a slight slowdown in my 5k times that were personal bests at 42.

41. Doing more volume than I ever have. Trying to train my HR so lots of long / slow run miles. Push it pretty hard on the bike / swim.

Just cracked the top 25% of my AG for the first time (70.3). With more goals ahead I don't see myself training any less. But I rarely get my HR into / over 175.

I try to keep pushing the limits, but within reason. Keeps me healthy and strong, which will help later in life. But being dead from racing to take a KOM will not help you later in life. So there's a balance between stupid and responsible. Be stupid when there's less penalty for it.

---

----------------------------------------------------------
Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com

Just turned 45 and this is the first year I've felt I needed more recovery from hard training. I pushed an early race last year and it took me awhile to recover. This year in training I really seem to feel the harder efforts longer. Going into my 8th year and I have a feeling it will be the first time I leveled off or took a step back. That's partly from having too much on my plate with family and work also.

---

"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "