Turning 40 has been somewhat painless to me today, besides the black balloons, black banner in front of my house that greeted me after a long 24 hour tour at the fire station, and the black decorated caked made by my kids waiting for me when I came in the house this A.M. it has been “fun”…yea right!
My day started with an hour run on the treadmill at 0530 with my training partner John Loudermilk (aka ajmilk to you slowtwitchers) and an hour at the pool with another training partner. Usually this workout would be a walk in the park but leaving the comforts of the 35-39 age group and jumping up to the 40 -44 has left me sleepless to say the least! For those of you that are from Michigan you know the most competitive AG is the mens 40-44. You are talking the likes of Todd Briggs and slowtwitchers own Tom Demerly. Oh well all I can do is hope that the top guys have an off day at the races this summer (all on the same day? who am I’m kidding). Any ways happy birthday to those of you that share this date with me.
First off and most importantly- Happy Birthday my friend.
Turning 40 means different things to different people. For you, since I have known you for a couple racing seasons- it means you have made the transition from a pretty regular guy to an experienced endurance athlete.
That has been an impressive transformation to see. You should be proud. Most 40 year olds are falling apart. You have gotten stronger, faster and better.
I’ve noticed that the 40-44 male AG is always one of the most competitive. But the numbers of participants seems to drop off dramatically by the time they get to my AG 50-54. I wonder why this is.
For me turning 40 was no big deal. Went to bed at age 39 and woke up the next day a year older. Nothing to it. But for many guys it seems to be some sort of a problematic milestone. My best friend was really depressed at turning age 40 because as a college student he set a goal for himself that he’d be a millionaire by age 40. Well he wasn’t even close and took it hard.
I told him the same thing I’ll tell anyone turning 40 - relax, be happy you’ve made it this far and expect your next forty years to be even better.
Thanks Tom, I can only hope to hold on to what I’ve gained the last couple of years. You guys are tough! At Grosse Ile I finished 4th in the 35-39 but that would only be good for 6-7 in the 40 -44! Anyways, thanks for your kind words and I’ll see you in the shop in the next few days, or maybe even a ride, I’m off the next four days.
Welcome to our age group (Tom and me)! And great going!
I am getting ready to turn 44, have 3 kids 5 and under, and have won overall masters in my last 2 sprint races (I think I would have won 35-39 too). I am training less, but better. I do notice that my recovery is not as fast and I get sore after races. I know the big slide is coming; But hey, not all bad…I can’t wait for 45-49!
Only 9 weeks to IMLP, so I better start going long and see what I can do. My limit is 10 hrs/wk so the IM may be slow, but I’ll still smile!
For me it meant going from missing a Kona slot by 6 seconds (at 39), to getting one w/o even the benefit of the rolldown at age 40 - there may be as many 40-44 participants, but they are not as fast (at least in the IM scene).
But, be warned, when I got back from Kona I did have to live up to a promise to my wife to have a certain “procedure” that kept me off of a bike seat for 4-6 weeks. Don’t worry, the mental image of laying there in stirrups while someone slices on your sack fades away with time.
No, sorry for the confusion…I am in NC; although, I do have a sister in GR and have promised to visit Tom to discuss his lady(s) situation and get fit on a bike. But that will have to wait for a while.
LP should be fun…I can’t wait. Good luck and best wishes,
At the last race I did in this town (San Diego), my AG included 4 perennial world’s and Kona qualifiers, and a few former pros. It’s tough, and all those guys keep aging up at the same rate I do. None of them seem to get any slower either.
But hell – when I turned 40 I was 35 pounds heavier than now and I couldn’t run a half mile. I’ve got one more year in this bracket and then move up to 45-49. That’s where I’m gonna get my Kona slot!
I can barely remember turning 40, but I do remember the card my younger brother sent me…it said, Don’t think of this birthday as another year older, think of it as one less year of your life.
He’s very funny.
In the Carolinas, often it’s the 45-49 year AG that wins the Master’s events…so, if I were you, I’d be glad that I didn’t move up to THAT AG for another 5 years!
I was 43 when I did my first race, the Honolulu Marathon. Later the same year I did my first Triathlon (Olympic). I don’t even know how many of both I have completed since and I am soon to be 57. Don’t look back, go for it and have fun.
Im 53. Two years ago, I beat Tim Lavelle out of the water and T-1 at Santa Cruz and watched him pull away to win the AG with a time of 2:11. I checked the results and said “Yee haw,” when I saw that he was aging up before the next years race. Then I looked further down and saw that Dean Harper (#1 USAT) was aging up to replace him. Dean did a 2:04 last year.
Not to be harsh but that was a pretty dumb question on why us over 50 guys aren’t as fast or a deep as the 40s. WE ARE OLD. If I have my body and fitness at 70, those 75 year old guys would be in a lot of trouble.
Always has been and will be that men peak at around 30 to 37 years and can hold on until around 42ish if they don’t get hurt. Then it is a downhill slide. Sometimes fast or slow. Another thing to factor in is orthopedic years. There are a few gifted people that can hold up ankle, knee, hip,& shoulder wise for more than twenty years of a career, but not that many.
Another factor is look who is winning the 40 plus and up age groups. Other than Cliff Rigsbee from Hawaii, most of the big contenders I spent my 30s,and 40s waring with have now since retired. Sure there are a few other examples like Paul Daniels (TX, he is back), Mark Montgomery (shows up sometimes), and a couple others. Most are laying low. I personally believe it takes 5 years to get good and ten years to enjoy being good, then the rest is work to avoid being injured. I think that is where a lot of the competiters on the 50 yearold age group come from. The guys who were casual or tennis players or some other sport wanting to get back in shape and find the triathlon. Lots of the high age groupers were bad fast youngsters but are starting a second wind after a long lay off.
I wish everyone the best, we just aren’t moving as fast as we used to. G
Welcome to 40! It ain’t so bad. You’re no longer a pervert for lusting after middle age women
Regarding triathlon, you have now entered the toughest age group. Be prepared to suffer with the likes of some pretty darn good ex-pro’s and some top amateurs as well.
The good news is that you can still expect to improve your abilities given the appropriate training. I’m 43 and I’m faster now than I was at 39. Maaaaaaan I used to be really sow
Next to my desk for the past many years has been a newpaper cut out with a picture of Dick Roth, former Olympic swimmer who had just finished at the time writing a book for men to understand women’s menopause (yes, it’s not all in our heads!). I had never heard of Dick Roth before but his quote struck me, even before I had turned 40 myself.
“If we’re so obsessed with youth, we’re going to miss the pleasures of getting older.”
For some reason that had a lot of impact on me and I have looked forward to every birthday and milestone.
I’m currently 44 with two teenaged sons which means the light is at the end of the tunnel (they’re almost out on their own).
