More like this: Just about the time you're finally financially in a position to retire and have all the time you want to train, your body is at a point in (later) life that you need all that extra time to simply recover from the training you're already doing.

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

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This is a very vast topic!
Retirement will bring one of the biggest change in your life!
I retired three years ago and I absolutely love it, but I have few friends who have hard time to adjust!
Retirement doesn’t just affect you, it affect everybody around you.
On a sport level, I had a busy life and I didn’t have too much time to train while I was working.
I did three Ironman when I was in my 40th (all very slow in 15h30 or so) and I am stronger now so I finish IM Roth in 13h50 this year at 62.
I am a slower runner (3h30 in my 40th, 4h0 4h15 now) but a much better cyclist (6h00 in Hamburg IM not fast but I never did less than 6h30 before) and faster swimmer!
Having time to train is fantastic but my body cannot take hard intervals!
I can do running 1000 meters repeat but if I do faster 400 m repeats i get injured (hamstring) soi do only longer interval.
Best part of retirement for me is no stress
Me and my wife social life is with running and triathlon friends so we enjoy our new freedom and I organize weekend trips with my friends to train and race.
Be prepared to say goodbye to your business self, your work friends will disappear and your previous company will strive without you :)
The phone doesn’t ring anymore and you are not buried under email anymore!
The best advice I got for the daily life is not to change everything at once (i.e don’t sell your house and move back to your childhood place since it doesn’t exist anymore, same for your vacation place before moving there, try to rent in slow months to see if you like it!
If you have a partner make sure you discuss how your newly found time with affect her/him!

I will probably end up over training and hurt myself more lol

I retired 3 years ago at age 62. Just before retirement I did a competitive 10 mile race in the high 65's. A year after I retired I did the same distance race in 63:12 (Broad Street Run). I also did a 1/2 marathon in 1:24 and the marathon in 3:26. Retirement training for me became structured and more consistent. I do most of my workouts in the early morning versus at lunchtime when I was working.

I was hoping to build on that, but I unfortunately tore my quadriceps tendon in a bad fall on a mountain climbing trip. After 5 months of rehab/recovery I did a 2 minute run yesterday at 8:00 pace. Nowhere to go but up!! I just got back from 7 days of swimming/snorkeling on St. John USVI.

I love being retired and wish I'd made the decision sooner.....

I retired in March of 2019 .Its pretty weird to be honest as there is a tremendous amount of time during the day to do anything .Mainly a road cyclist I upped my frequency to 4 times a week with rides in the3-4 hour range .By September after taking up MTB as well I have decided to work part time at a golf course next year for something to do .The zero stress part is the best part and it takes time for your mind to get there .I’m fortunate to have some retired friends and that really helps .

I'm retired and train 20-30 hours a week. The biggest difference is that I can do unlimited volume, and feel great all the time. I no longer have to try and cram quality training into shorter hours per week, and get hurt or burned out. I can sleep 8-10 hours a night or more if I want, and wake up rested and ready to go every day. 3 weeks ago I got a full IM PR at the age of 59, beating my previous time, set 35 years ago, when I was 23 years old.

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Athlinks / Strava

I am following this because I am contemplating retirement, however, believe I would overtrain and get injured! I plan to transition to a similar job but alot less stress, the possibility of working remotely and/or part-time.

While I will probably never really retire, I have sort of quasi retired leaving a high profile, high stress, high reward job in my 20s to pursue sport while working on the side in less defined and more flexible roles that didn't require me to be in office or out on the road selling. I have also watched many others leave work and pursue sport. It isn't a secret that over the long-haul many professional athletes have burnt out along the way. Having a lot of time can be a blessing or curse and it depends a little on your personality and some luck. I know professionals who went back to work full-time and were better athletes and they acknowledge so much. I also know athlete who got much better with more focus and dedication. And I know athletes that simply got injured as a result of their change and left the sport completely in some cases.

My own suggestion is to increase your volume every so slightly and increase your rest and see what comes of it. For many their day job provides and outlet for exercise as a stress relief. Don't be surprised if you love some of the joy in exercise without it being the same outlet. To do this I recommend focusing on keeping things fun and enjoyable, but yet competitive. This is what I found worked well for me.

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I retired at 47

My advice jump in with both feet

It’s fantastic!

Train, don’t train, you’ll figure it out.

I took early retirement at the beginning of the year. First 6 - 8 months was fine as we were maxed out with renovations taking up 8 hours a day. Now that we have finished I found I missed the structure and wasn’t quite ready to do nothing.

After 2 months I took a part time job working 2 hours a day at the local school helping with before school sport. I absolutely love it as it is 7 - 9 am and I have the rest of the day to myself. I ran the district XC Champs the other week which was fantastic.

I can’t see me leaving for a long time and it helps with my application for nationality.

I don't like this thread! :(

After 55 when I retired, I could still train hard, go fast and bought a lot of gear thinking that it would go on like this forever. There were some overtraining injuries; but nothing too discouraging.

About 62 I started to slow. First the run slowed. Then the bike slowed. Finally the swim slowed. Still love the training. Almost 65 now and pretty much have cut out the intensity except for one day a week. Most of my training now is done at a pace of breathe through my nose easy.

What to do away from training is the big question. No longer have family to keep me occupied so I have about seven interests and delve into some daily and some on an interim basis. Developed interests and social contacts outside of triathlon training too.

Back to triathlon - have two or more of everything needed, really clean bike(s) and can take naps.

Happy to be retired. Don't want to screw up a good thing.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

Another perk, is being at the pool when its not crowded. My wife does her water aerobics class, while I swim laps. The only person there that's not AARP, is the lifeguard. I haven't had to share a lane in over 3 years.

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Athlinks / Strava

I retired 2017. Was doing about 14/15 hours training per week, with about 18 max. I was racing half and full distance. I made a concsious decision not to train any more hours but I did ensure I rested more. Feet up after hard sessions etc. I did take on part time work (gym instructor) just to get some adult conversation/interaction, but it obviously helps with triathlon being in that kind of environment. I haven't slowed down yet (in fact I've set PB's at 10, 25, 50 and 100 mile cycle time trials at age 52-54).
My advice would be get into a routine, don't over train, rest properly and find something to focus on part time.

Definitely take it more slowly than I did. I retired 2 years ago hoping to really improve my run as well as enjoy more biking, hiking, kayaking, cross country skiing, in short all the stuff the Pacific NW has to offer. I’ll be getting knee surgery Christmas Eve to clean out the loose bodies in my knee and repair the torn meniscus. Running in the future is iffy but there are enough mountain bike trails, road rides and other stuff to take its place. Right now, if I can get this knee to stop locking, I’ll gladly stop running and stick to biking, hiking, cross country skiing and kayaking.

Same here and couldn't agree more going on my 3rd year. But must admit with all the other stuff I'm doing I'm training less. But absolutely loving it.

I'm 55, still quite a ways out, but scared of retirement. What the hell am I going to do with all the time? I don't think I've ever taken more than standard 1 week vacations for 34 years. I'm taking 2 weeks off for holidays (very unusual for me) and I'm scared to death of total boredom. You can only work out for so many hours a day. I'm sure I'll ease into it, but I'm a pretty intense person. An idle mind is the devil's playground...

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"The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue."
- Napoleon Bonaparte

Don’t stress about it. If you have the ability financially to retire but decide to carry on working you really need to be 100% sure that work is the one thing you want to do with your life above all else, given it takes 90% of your waking hours. If you are not sure that work is the best thing in your life then retire and see how much you miss work.........there is a lot more to life than just slogging away under a mountain of emails, office politics, paperwork, bureaucracy, meetings and business trips - they all seem quite unimportant and unattractive once you finally step away and take a look back at your former life.

I'm 37. If my wife and I have enough money when we're 45 I would definitely retire. I would plan a lot of race-cations around the world and nap a lot. Probably get involved with a non-profit and read a lot to stimulate myself intellectually. You just need to find a few serious hobbies to keep your mind and body active (not just 1).

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Strava

I am 61 and can afford to retire but will keep working for a while and maybe a long time. I am a professor and for much of the year work when I want and as hard as I want. I work almost every day - sometimes a lot and sometimes a little. I have cut way back on business travel because I don't need the income. It is a good gig - why quit?

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Andrew Inkpen

Retired at 58, had planned to work till 65. SOO glad I got out early. First couple of years were a transition of working part time approx 12-15 hours/week and 30-40 hours a week renovating a cabin. I also got started going to the gym more often and going on longer and longer hikes. At 60 I was done with all work but decided to go for a sprint Tri having not done any in about 30 years. Having the time to train right AND rest and recover is great!
Somethings that worked for me that might be worth considering:

- Add intensity or volume slowly and carefully. Injuries suck!
- Take more time to do good quality food, it really makes a difference.
- Travel and explore. For us it was 3 winters exploring the southwest in a Motorhome. Lots of awesome hikes!
- Volunteer! There are so many places that your time and talent can make a big difference. Just be careful to not over commit, it's easy to do. For me a real plus of volunteering is the social interactions.
- Start a hobby you didn't have time for before. I took up guitar three years ago and am now completely addicted:)
- Having time to help my kids with various projects is great.

Enjoy yourself!

I retired in Feb this year at the age of 63. I had started 5 Ironmans the past 5 years and had already decided to skip this year and concentrate on next year when I age up to 65.

In my case, I have done a lot lot less training than when I had a job. My theory is that I didn't have to worry about when I got in my workouts and slacked off in the mornings and often times decided not to do anything. A few months after retirement, I did start taking music classes at a community college just for fun. It seemed that once I had focus again, I started working out more and back on track for next January when I really begin to focus on the Ironman again (IMAZ). I even joined the college tennis team since I used to play in high school some 46 years ago.

You might enjoy Scott Tinley’s excellent memoir about his transition from pro triathlete to civilian life, and how difficult it was to let go. It’s called “Racing the Sunset.” I read it when I was leaving newspaper journalism for public radio, and having to deal with my changing work identity.

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Sharon McN
@IronCharo
#TeamZoot
Clif Bar Pace Team 2003-2018

I sold up earlier this year at 53 years old. Have done a lot of traveling and am enjoying not working. One thing I have found is that exercise is too big a part of my life - I’m currently not able to run and it is leaving a big hole in my life. I need other ways to be happy as well. But it’s well worth it.