I just completed an Olympic race and felt very strong…only to see that I was 6 out of 12 in my 60-64 age group. I have a 70.3 in less than two weeks and I’m starting to question my reasons for racing when I won’t podium in anything but local races.
If you aren’t winning the whole thing then who cares?
Do it for fun. Do it for a healthy lifestyle.
What does getting on the podium in one of the old guy categories do for you?
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Doing intervals or hard long training is not for fun. I need a goal. I need some sort of competition. Some of these “old guys” kick ass.
For me, it’s simply that I went from a 280 pound dude to 200 and did things I never thought I could. I do get the competitive urge tho, the first non Clydesdale podium I got (only 2 ever) was a bit of a drug, but I am a long way from that now. These days (55-59) it’s more about the experience and staying healthy. If I were ever to get “fast” again, icing on the cake.
For you sounds like beating other people is a motivator. How far are you off third? Get faster 
The thing about some of these triathlons is that they are not standard distances. So, it’s hard to claim a PR if the bike distance was 3 miles less than another “half-ironman” or “olympic” distance. I’m getting older, so the idea of improving is going to be difficult. I’ve been doing endurance sports for 24 years. I’ve never done a race for “fun”. I’ve always pushed as hard as I could. The feeling I have is why should I be pushing as hard as I can during a race if I’m not going to finish in the top spots. Why dig deep? Why push so hard in training?
I would say that, after 24 years of racing towards goals, I’m having doubts about continuing.
Depending on the race, 70.3 could be much more competitive than your local Oly, so you might not even finish middle of the pack. Why do you this sport? If you got in thinking you were going to just show up and come home with a medal, think twice, even the “old guy” age groups like yours are very competitive. Why don’t you set a goal to try to get a bit faster in a couple of seasons? If you don’t enjoy the training and lifestyle, then this isn’t the sport for you. Plenty of folks here spend 15-20 hours per week training for races and enjoy every minute of it.
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I’ve been passionate about endurance sports for close to 25 years, it’s always been about obtaining a goal. Qualifying for Boston. Qualifying for Kona. Trying to get better. When age starts to interfere with getting better, then for a competitive person I need goals, This has been my obsession for almost half my life,
Just to get out there at your age means you’re in great physical shape. What you do now will help define your health for the next 10 years. You’re not competing against others, you’re competing against aging poorly. I meet guys all the time who reminisce about how great they use to be but are in terrible shape at the present. Imagine yourself, sitting at a bar telling people how you use to be a triathlete, but since you couldn’t reach the podium you gave it up. You right now have what 99% of the population would love to have: physical fitness.
sport is just something fun to do, its prob the only voluntary thing in modern life.
Find one of the 5 guys that beat you and it happening to do the same 70.3 and make it your quest to beat him. I knew a pro who finished dead last in his first two races and made it his life goal to beat 1 other guy. Lol. Goals come in different forms.
I’ve been passionate about endurance sports for close to 25 years, it’s always been about obtaining a goal. Qualifying for Boston. Qualifying for Kona. Trying to get better. When age starts to interfere with getting better, then for a competitive person I need goals, This has been my obsession for almost half my life,
What if your goal becomes: “To train well for the event, and to do the best I can on the day”?
I’m 62. I’ve been goal-based since 1976. Adjust goals from specific numbers. Use broader brushstrokes.
Keep going!!! 😀
The thing about some of these triathlons is that they are not standard distances. So, it’s hard to claim a PR if the bike distance was 3 miles less than another “half-ironman” or “olympic” distance. I’m getting older, so the idea of improving is going to be difficult. I’ve been doing endurance sports for 24 years. I’ve never done a race for “fun”. I’ve always pushed as hard as I could. The feeling I have is why should I be pushing as hard as I can during a race if I’m not going to finish in the top spots. Why dig deep? Why push so hard in training?
I would say that, after 24 years of racing towards goals, I’m having doubts about continuing.
Then what? Chess? (Not a knock!! The only game I ever cared about!!) Walking?
Dude…shift your Reasons For Doing It.
But Do It!!! 😂
I mean, Fuck Extrinsic!!! Be Intrinsic!!!
To hell with all that podium - medals - recognition shit.
Go “inside”. Go “secret”.
I’ve been DFL in a race before, and I was the happiest person on Planet Earth that night.
(28 July 1989. Shall I drone on about it?)
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Why don’t you just try harder
.
I’ve been passionate about endurance sports for close to 25 years, it’s always been about obtaining a goal. Qualifying for Boston. Qualifying for Kona. Trying to get better. When age starts to interfere with getting better, then for a competitive person I need goals, This has been my obsession for almost half my life,
I’m confused. If you’ve been doing this for 25 years, it shouldn’t be a surprised about how fast the podium guys are in our ag (I’m 64). If you’ve KQed, then you’ve been faster than almost everyone (maybe you’ve placed first before, and we’re faster than everyone). So, since you’re in the FOP group, you should still be in that group. Either you’re slowing down faster than others in our ag, or your training isn’t keeping up. Or maybe in that last race all of the guys in our ag were also FOP guys.
Were your times a lot slower than last year?
I just completed an Olympic race and felt very strong…only to see that I was 6 out of 12 in my 60-64 age group. I have a 70.3 in less than two weeks and I’m starting to question my reasons for racing when I won’t podium in anything but local races.
If you are not 59 or 60, you’re probably not going to be winning a 60-64 age group. Keep fit and build to a race the year you age up.
Why don’t you just try harder
😂
Are you that guy at the start of the Twisted Sister “We’re Not Gonna Take It” video?
I’m starting to question my reasons for racing when I won’t podium in anything but local races. //
Sounds like that ship has sailed already, 6th out of 12 means maybe time to readjust your goals if you want to be pointy end competitive… Maybe try sprints or super sprints, that is what I did at your age, and never looked back to those old longer distances. Or Xterra, maybe some Gravel Tri’s, or just individual events you can be competitive in. Hell of a lot more fun to train for and to race. You get done with lots of time an energy, and race day is over in an hour!!!
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The thing about some of these triathlons is that they are not standard distances. So, it’s hard to claim a PR if the bike distance was 3 miles less than another “half-ironman” or “olympic” distance. I’m getting older, so the idea of improving is going to be difficult. I’ve been doing endurance sports for 24 years.** I’ve never done a race for “fun”.** I’ve always pushed as hard as I could. The feeling I have is why should I be pushing as hard as I can during a race if I’m not going to finish in the top spots. Why dig deep? Why push so hard in training?
I would say that, after 24 years of racing towards goals, I’m having doubts about continuing.
There’s your problem right there. It’s time to learn to really enjoy the sport.
There’s so much more to enjoying the sport than AG podiums. Stop measuring your achievements solely in numbers and medals.
Do you still enjoy getting out with a group for a morning ride or open water swim? How often do you go on long trail run or a scenic ride where the time, distance, speed and even the route doesn’t matter?
If a race has an odd distance cycle, do you still feel a satisfaction in executing a good race on the day? Can you intrinsically feel that satisfaction without looking at your placing, your watch or bike computer? Did you have fun trying to stick with some random younger dude or chick on the run? Or encourage that newbie to “stick with me” over the last 5km? Did you pick up rubbish around transition afterwards or chat to volunteers while helping to pull down the bike racks? Did you thank the RD afterwards and tell them what you enjoyed about their race? Have you been involved in putting on events yourself, as part of a committee or as RD?
I’m around your age, though I’ve been playing these games a little longer than you. I was also very goal orientated, chasing times, qualifiers and big races; very similar to you in some respect. At 48, I had to cut back my running mileage and along with it, any significant aspirations. That was a simple and comfortable decision. I’d had nearly 30 years of trying to wring out the best of my body. I’d done way more than most, and very often on less natural ability.
Other than a short period in my mid 50s when I resurrected my goal-orientated mindset in a foray into marathon swimming, the adjustment of “letting go” has been easy, primarily because all the other fun stuff around endurance sport is still there.
“Fun” and “pushing hard as I could” certainly need not be mutually exclusive. But we inevitably reach a point where “hard as we can” becomes “doing what we can with what we still have”.
I can still get a kick out of heading down to the track on a Thursday night, “flying” around the final bend of a 3000m at puke-threshold pace, in a futile attempt to hang on the heels of another old codger. So what if “flying” in the 3000 is now my 100km PB pace from many decades past? All the rest of the fun is still there… and, unlike that faster pair of heels, that’s something I can hang onto.