51 year old with a 6 year old, 3 year old, and baby due in December. Used to compete at a fairly high level, now I just run due to time constraints, but have a decently high level of fitness, ran a 4:55 downhill mile a couple weeks back and a 5:30 flat/certified mile. Going to sign up and compete in a sprint triathlon on August 31st, 400 meter swim, 15 mile bike, and 5k run. I want to be competitive, win my AG and top 10 OA hopefully.
Since I really only have a week of training, what should I do? I haven’t swam or biked really in over a year, don’t really have access to a pool much, but I can get in a pool Wednesday and Friday this week and that is probably it. I’m thinking if I get in a couple thousand yards swimming each of those days, mostly easy, but maybe a couple 200 yd hard efforts. Mostly though just working on form and some volume and then I’ll be able to fake it for 400 meters come race day. On the bike, too late to get a good training block in, but if I can bike an hour a day for the next week or so, with some hard efforts in the next couple days, but mostly getting my body (51 year old back) used to being aero again!
What would others do? Thinking at this point, the time spent doing biking and swimming is going to be more important than going hard in either two, especially with it only being a sprint distance.
You are past 50. I would make sure your bike is functioning well and I would do absolutely nothing hard. When you get on the bike in the race, I would pedal well below any sort of hard level for at least half the distance.
Is the swim open water, with or without a wetsuit? If it is wetsuit legal, open water, I would soak your wetsuit, make sure it fits and just cruise on race day.
As a fellow 50-something, the potential for injury in the next week is very high and the return on investment of any actual training is low. This effort is going to be longer than an hour for you unless you are really banging out 60 mpw running right now and plenty of efforts running longer than an hour, I would suggest you be VERY conservative.
I agree with the above, but if it were me, I would focus on the swim. You’re already fine on the run. And you’re going to be sore from the bike after being off it this long, so I probably wouldn’t even bother with a training ride first. 15 miles isn’t much and I’d rather just be sore after the event than sore before even starting it. Spend time in the pool.
The only thing that will benefit your race time in any way is practicing your transitions, including taking the wetsuit off.
The best thing you can do is spend time teaching your kids how to cheer, do a family activity making signs, and then make sure you know where they will be to wave throughout the race. That will lead to the best time on the day for all, and ultimately that’s what you are doing this for.
If you’ve been a high performer before, doing a race to enjoy the experience may be the hardest goal you can give yourself.
The best outcome is the kids see you enjoying it and are inspired by you and all the other athletes to want to be involved in sports (tri, running/cycling, whatever). Just whatever you do, don’t let them get excited by either pool swimming or the water support boats unless you want to lose the next 12 years getting up at 4:30 am to go to swim squad and rowing practice. That is very much not what you need from the weekend.
I stopped swim and bike training at the beginning of the pandemic but still race an indoor tri in the winter and multiple sprint tris in the summer. My advice to you would be to swim once (in your wetsuit if you plan on using one) and ride your bike just enough to make sure it is functioning properly but don’t try to increase your swim & bike fitness this close to the race. Instead, just continue to run and make sure you are well rested on race day.
I think trying to increase fitness on the S & B in two weeks could be counterproductive as far as improving your race time, but I’m 65. Have fun!
If you can run 5:30 min/mile, you can handle sprint tri with no problem. Just make sure you can push as hard as you can without getting hurt or blowing up. That AG is no joke but I think you can win and make it top 10 overall depending on other participants(fast kids and younger guys)
Thanks for the replies everyone, some good advice! I really like the idea with the family activity making signs plus using the race as a teaching/inspiring deal. My six year old is racing the kids tri Friday night, it is her 6th triathlon! She’s never really seen me race a tri other than when she was tiny, so that was a big motivating factor for me to sign up.
It’s a pool swim, wetsuit isn’t an issue. Definitely like the idea of practicing transitions, I always have been fast with those, used to analyze results and would typically be in the top 3 combined times of transitions, have won a couple races due to that! But definitely a skill that needs practice, it should come back.
I’ve had some lower back issues over the years as I’ve aged, I think putting in time on the bike in the aero bars over the next couple weeks will be huge. 15 mile rides, on the trainer in the aero bars with a high cadence followed with a quick 1/2 mile to 1 mile run. Bike course is quite flat, so staying aero will be key.
I did manage to get in 700 yards open water swimming yesterday and then 1800 meters in a pool this morning. Should be able to do the same on Friday morning. Did a timed 400m in 8:07, think I can get that to the low 7’s by race day.
and yes, 3 kids under 6 at age 51 by far is the biggest endeavor I’ve taken on! Wouldn’t trade it for anything though… The knowledge that I’ll be 69 when my youngest is graduating high school is a big motivator for me staying in shape.
My kids started tri at age 7 and I was always disappointed by the parents screaming at their kids and running alongside them screaming that they weren’t trying hard enough. We always made it a fun event, so they wanted to sign up for the next tri because it was fun. They are allowed to shout at you the next day when you are competing though. My daughter has continued with tris and competes/completes at college now. This sprint tri weekend could be the catalyst for a lifetime of shared family endeavor.
Oh - and too late for any real specific training adaptions, as others have said make sure your bike works and some swims to remind your body and you’ll be fine.
Now after this sprint - get yourself a 3 seat bike trailer and start towing your kids around some trails or park - good strength training and family time.
Figured I should post an update for anyone that cares. Race happened this past Saturday in Bentonville AR, it was the TriFest for MS Research Sprint Triathlon, I won my age group and finished 13th OA out of 301! Not quite the top 10 I had hoped for, but very happy with the result. Results here: Results
Managed a 7:21 on the 400m swim and averaged 22.1 mph on the bike. Happy with that considering I had biked a total of 94 miles and swam 14,000 yards for the year heading into the race. Virtually all that biking and definitely all the swimming happened after my initial post August 13th. Having a high level of running fitness plus the 20 years of previous multisport experience paid off! I did probably cook my legs a little on the bike, but managed 6:50 pace on the run, so didn’t totally fall apart.
Didn’t find the time to practice transitions other than race day walking the transition area and repeatedly practicing putting on my helmet and then my sunglasses with one hand after pulling them out of my aero bottle straw. I did manage to have the 4th fastest combined transition time out of all individuals and the three faster were all brothers, the Hamilton brothers with the oldest Hudson being the Overall Super Sprint National Champion last year. So obviously he is a super fast transitioner and all three are teenagers that can run!
Have fun!