Im better at 55 than I was at 45.

Hardly scientific, but its true.

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Deceptively slow.

Depends strongly on when you started. A newbie will still see massive improvements despite getting older.

I'm an endurance athlete my whole life. Saw the first noticable decline at 35, got worse since then. Impaired recovery seems to be the main issue for me.

And I don't buy into this "as you age you have to do more high end stuff".

Same here. Life has allowed me to be more dedicated and focused on training. Consistency in training, recovery and recovery.

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All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

what was your starting performance level? I only started triathlons 5 years ago and only the last couple years were truly focused as I worked up through HIM to an IM. I still enjoy triathlon but I don't feel a great desire to perform at a specific level so I wonder when I hit 55 will I just be better, the same, or just farting around doing triathlons with no goal other than to have fun.

I'm another lifelong athlete. Really it depends on your life circumstances; for me we have young kids (I'm 44) so the chance to recover is nothing like it was 10 years ago when we didn't have any. But for someone who's kids are older or have none, they can probably get more sleep/recovery. That said, I don't believe I've slowed much at all, and hope to near my Ironman PB next year, which I did aged 37, because my work circumstances have allowed training to become more convenient again. Also, as well as personal circumstances, everyone's physiology is different.


If you take the Moats' approach, definitely no reason for decline :-(

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29 years and counting

I think we were all hoping this topic was about nighttime activity performance

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USAT Level II- Ironman U Certified Coach

I started competitive running at age 11 and will be 52 in 3 weeks. I started to notice some decline in shorter racing abilities when I was around 43 or so ... try jumping into a university cross-country race on an alumni team and for some reason I can no longer spike my heart rate and crank a 2:50 first kilometer! I just had my slowest ever IM performance after taking a 9 year break from racing them but I finished 50+ minutes off what I had been hoping for (10:54 in Tremblant) mostly due to a flare up of an old back issue so I was forced to ride the final 130k of the bike mostly off the aero bars and had to hobble the marathon so not sure how much was age and how much was my back problem. I find that I go easier on my easy days and need a little more time to recover from my hard training days than I did 10 years ago.

I am realistic in evaluating what I can do with regards to personal bests .... A few years after switching from runner only to triathlete (almost 30 years now) I realized that I wasn't going to be breaking 15 minutes for 5k anymore so I adjusted my expectations for run only races. Now that I am older I do the same ..... I just entered Boston for next April and don't figure I will break my 2:32 marathon best but I still figure I have a shot at sub-2:50 so that will be my goal.

If you're a life long endurance athlete, you'll begin to see a decline in your late 30's.

If you're just starting, it'll take you about 4/5 years of steady work to reach your peak, after that it's down hill all the way.

For me (61 yrs old), instead of focusing on getting faster, i'm focusing on trying to get slower, slower.

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"Good genes are not a requirement, just the obsession to beat ones brains out daily"...the Griz

I stated seeing a decline in my mid 40’s. Started triathlon when I was 28. Have seen severe drop off since I turned 60.

I'm 45 and in my third year of triathlons. I'm still getting faster as I learn how to race and train. Also, my kids are no longer babies and so require less of my energy and time. I get much more sleep now than I have for the previous decade. I've been a runner my entire adult life and am definitely slowing down there, particularly at the shorter distances (e.g. 5k). That's a combination of age slowing me down as well as a lack of desire to do the speedwork necessary to perform at a higher level. That lack of desire is itself a function of age- the older I get the more I prefer the steady state/ threshold runs rather than the high-intensity, heart-in-my-throat runs.

....in the aera of having small kids I wanted to talk about less depressing stuff ;-)

Here are charts with the world best times for each age in several different running road race distances - http://www.runscore.com/Alan/AgeGrade.html

I've done multiple endurance events (run, bike, tri) every year with no long breaks from training or racing since I was 16. I'm 59 now. Set all my running PRs in my 20s when I was more focused on running than tris. Did my first IM when I was 35 and had my best IM performance when I was 40.

How do I cope with no longer setting PRs? By training, which is one of my main coping mechanisms in life. :) Age-grade scoring is good for my mojo because it lets me know I'm not getting slower faster than others my age.

I think for most people, especially if you've been at this for an extended period of time, are going to see some dropoff as they age.

For me, it happened after age 45. I had been improving pretty steadily until then, but then injuries and lesser recovery ability conspired to slow me down.
You can still keep most of what you had, IF you are able to keep doing it fairly consistently.

There are exceptions.
I know 2 guys, one just turned 55 and is still kicking ass on the bike as much as he always has, if not moreso.
Another buddy is 62, and is achieving lifetime PB's on the bike this year, mostly a function of doing some focused trainer work this winter, and not getting himself hurt too badly at any point this year.

A female triathlete I know is 70, and still crushes it as well as she ever has, and she's World Champion level good for her AG, still.

I think it comes down to - how much had you really maxed out your abilities before?
IF you were close to your ceiling, then it's probably inevitable to slide back from that a bit as you age.
IF not, then you still have that delta you can make up (some of), which means you can still improve relative to your prior self, even as your ceiling starts to slowly drop.

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float , hammer , and jog

I started pretty much from zero age 42, 13 years ago.

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Deceptively slow.

was in peak fitness at 42, started declining at 45. Just started noticing it.

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

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There is pretty good data on VO2max decline over the years to explain some of the performance decline. It doesn't explain all as there is also sometimes some improvement in economy etc. But it explains some of the decline.
Then, I'd say the decline also varies a lot depending on injury rates and the sport. I'm 48 now and my VO2 is still in the low 70s. My bike is still fairly decent, so is swimming (when I want to swim, but that's a different story). The run on the other hand has been harder. I put this on 3 years of achilles issues. Just ran a 18:20 5km which is a lot lower than it used to be. Not scientific, but it feels like I have far less spring in my stride. I'd expect that someone who avoids injury could do well for a long time, as we have seen with guys like Rob Barel, and many of the former pros that have switched to AG and putting low 9h IM in the 50+ AGs.

In my case, it was somewhat a function of what races I was training for. 35 years in tri now, with the initial focus on Oly distance. I did not have natural speed so that was not the best for me and I never got crazy fast. 1/2 IM was next up and I found endurance was my friend, and peaked at 4th AG at Nat'ls. The move to full IM was great for me as I had the base from years of training, and with some awesome coaching, had my best times in my early to mid 50's. Now at mid 60's is the first I've felt recovery takes longer and the speed is much slower, but when one considers peers in the ag, my placing os the same. My point is that I think the drop off is somewhat based on what distance of the event and the demand for speed vs endurance and how much you are consistent. With an intelligent approach, the loss can be slowed for a long time, but now for me it's starting to happen.

The key to getting faster as you age is to not be that good when you are young......

I actually developed an age graded formula to apply to triathlons that works pretty well.....I have tested it and developed it using USAT nationals results over the year.....its simple but pretty damn close....

your overall triathlon time will decline .8% a year over the age of 42....(this assumes that age group triathletes can maintain there best performances till they are 42 and then decline will start and declines about .8% every year after that.....If I were to tweak it it my be a tad generous to lolder ages so a .7% decline each year in overall time might be more accurate.....

I used age grading tables in running and swimming and used British time trial performances age grading to inform on the cycling portion.....

Started Tri's when I was 21, and have raced every year since. Now 58. Probably performance peaked in late 30s early 40s, and then maintained pretty well until late 40s. In the low 50s there is a slide, but it is gradual. In late 50s the slide is a bit more pronounced. That said, the old rule of thumb is that you have 8 - 10 from when you first start serious training to peak, and then you decline. I peaked a long time ago. Still love training and racing . . . gotta run >>>

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

Thanks for the numbers. I will give it a quick check. There is a lot of data out for marathon running but not for Tri...
Uli

PS:so say I'm 5% off the podium and decline at 0.6% as opposed to 0.7% per year, I only have to compete 50 more years until I win and qualify for Kona....makes perfect sense, in the 80+ AG you probably just have to finish to win it ;-)

For all you aspiring young guns out there, the bigger issue for a lot of oldsters isn't the age-related decline in endurance performance - it's the severely limiting joint arthritis that will potentially end your triathlon or running career. Once that cartilage shows damage and wear, it's never getting any better - only worse.

Yeah, this.

My buddy is a 30+ year triathlete, who was able to overcome Stage 4 Melanoma in the past 2 years, and raced SOS last year and was Top 5 OA at age 51.
He's had MS for several years now too, just in case beating life-threatening cancer wasn't badass enough.

But this year, it's knee cartilage issues that have finally taken him out of the action (for the time being)
He's probably going to need surgery, and it's unknown if he'll ever be able to run again.

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float , hammer , and jog

.....this...I was doing pretty good at limiting the fade till age 59 after 32 years of triathlon but within a year I went from "running pretty good" to "I am done" due to bone on bone arthritis....total knee replacement scheduled on 10/31!....Onward to mt biking and xc skiing with some swimming and hiking thrown in.....I outlasted some of my competition but now others will outlast me.....