I will be 40 next Sat, and was thinking of doing a challenging workout on my birthday. I remember reading years ago where Dave Scott got up early on his 40th and ran 20 miles, then rode 100 miles followed by 40x200’s in the pool–then drank margaritas at the Rio Grande in Boulder.
No way am I in Dave Scott’s league or in Ironman shape at the moment. I have a 15 month old son who has been taking up my time these days(which I love), so I have only been able to do a few Olympic races this summer.
I know there are some friggen studs on this forum who have probably done something similar, so any advice or options would be much appreciated.
My birthdays are in the depth of October by which point, I am certifiably in doughboyland and have no interest in training being that this is in between tri season and XC ski season :-).
I had contemplated something like what Dave scott did when I turned 40 a few years ago - getting together my best friends and training buddies and having an epic day of training. However, some significant life changes just before my 40th and a herniated disc in my lower back put the end to all of that. I can’t even remember how I celebrated my 40th now and it was only 4 years ago. Brain cells must be going faster than I thought.
40x50 in the pool on a fairly challenging interval
followed by a
40K ride (or 40 mile depending on how much time you have)
followed by a 4K transition run
followed by 40 situps with your son holding your feet down
.
Not really a workout, but the weekend before I turned 40, I did my first 1/2 IM (Buckeye Challenge), then turned 40 on Wednesday and did my second 1/2 IM (Paul Bunyan Challenge) that weekend. I was 1 hour 20 minutes faster the second time, so turning 40 wasn’t such a bad thing (of course it didn’t hurt that the Paul Bunyan course was entirely flat, where as the Buckeye was the hillyest I had ever ridden on…)
A little OT, but my wife knew I wouldn’t want a big party between races, so she threw a “virtual” party for me. Months in advance, she contacted all my friends, co-workers, college classmates, etc. and had them dig up every embarrassing picture & story they could find, and compiled them into a book for my birthday. Seriously funny stuff–I still look at it and crack up 3 years later.
Happy birthday, fellow Virgo! My bday - this Friday. =)
I definitely believe that the best way to celebrate another year is to do the thing that keeps you young - work out! Whatever you do, have fun and enjoy the fact that you are 100x in better shape than most other guys your age!
The birthday is all about epic workouts. In 1998 I ran my first marathon the day before my 16th birthday, and in 2003 I did Ironman Wisconsin on my 21st. I remember floating in the water before the starting cannon went off and loudly announcing “I just want to thank everyone for showing up to my 21st birthday party!”
Mine is this wednesday (the 7th.) Unfortunately, I have class until 9:45 and then I’m teaching at 8 am the following morning, so festivities and workouts will wait until the weekend.
Get out there and enjoy your day. Happy birthday, man!
Thanks for the responses, I think you guys are right I will just enjoy the day and go out and
train. I might do a mt bike ride to the top of Snowbird Ski tram followed by a swim on top of the roof at the ski lodge…your responses got me thinking.
Thanks for the Birthday wishes as well, and all the best to you and your families.
I turned 40 in May, and went out for a 14 mile run…it was great. My longest run of my life…felt great! Then I went to a brew pub with my wife and two little boys, and celebrated with some fine brewskis!
One of my high-school friends’ dad ran 60 miles on his 60th birthday. I was out on a team ride and just happened to be going by there when he was finishing. He’s an animal. His wife and grandkids were there to greet him, cheering.
In high school we swam in an ancient 20 meter pool - and so when our coach turned 40 we found ourselves doing 40 x 40 on 40. That was pretty epic at the time.
I did a 50 mile trail run on my 25th birthday. 2 miles for every year I had been alive. By far the dumbest thing I have ever done!
The only reason I considered doing the race was because it was on my birthday. I probably should have considered the fact that I had not trained to go that far factor in the decision, but I guess that only makes it a more epic experience.
a guy at work ran 30 miles on his 30th birthday. 30, 1mile laps around his block with friends joining him for some of the laps and his wife handing out gu and gatorade.
on my 60th birthday i biked 60 miles, ran 6, and swam a token 600m. so there’d at least be something interesting to say if i died the next day (as things turned out, i didn’t…).
peggy
my birthday next week (friday) and as I am training for IMF - I’m taking the day off to ride 6:30 and run 30 after…probably hit the lake in the evening for a swim as well…
