Too hurt to run anymore
No Bikes fit me
Swimming is not super enjoyable
Realised today after 25 years of trying, I can run for 6 weeks do a good time, then get hurt
The bike industry doesn’t make bikes for ex basketball players
Swimming on its own does not do it for me.
What do others do when SBR is not a choice?
Loved most days and events, but realised today it doesn’t love me (even if I am doing them as individual sports)
libido increase. walks in mountains. read the ‘greats’
looking at other people:
Too hurt to run anymore
No Bikes fit me
Swimming is not super enjoyable
Realised today after 25 years of trying, I can run for 6 weeks do a good time, then get hurt
The bike industry doesn’t make bikes for ex basketball players
Swimming on its own does not do it for me.
What do others do when SBR is not a choice?
Loved most days and events, but realised today it doesn’t love me (even if I am doing them as individual sports)
I strongly believe that triathlon is an endurance sport which doesn’t fit everybody, and like other endurance sports (like marathon) have experience a hype.
I understand that for many, after the first weeks of “feeling like shit” there is a motivation derivated from feel how you improve, you are faster, have more endurance, can race faster, and train more, and being faster… but this motivation finishes, you cannot train more (injuries? time constrains?) and you are not improving any more (you reach your “easy” peak, and any other improvement will need much effort, more time…)
in this point, many change of sport, looking for same feeling…
i also believe that there is a sport for each individual, but no sport fits all.
I love triathlon, i love training any of its individual sports (I don’t enjoy riding macro cycling events, but I enjoy riding my bike)
what I don’t like of triathlon is what is around the sport: in Spain at least, you need to plan a lot of time in advance in which event you want to participate, the prices are high… and the logistic
. Running without getting a good time (ultra - get mad propz on social media for all but walking the distance)
Hmm people do seem to love 9 min km
2. Ice swimming
This seems silly
Could be the answer
4. Super-niche sports like paddle
No
5. Non-niche sports like basketball
Already broken and I used to play above the rim, being locked to the floor would be sad.
Time to get ripped
It’s the gym for me. I joined one of those franchise gyms years ago, for the pool. Now it’s my home away from home. I can lift, spin, swim, row, run, stair step, elliptisize, etc… whatever I feel like. I figure for what I spent on my last IM, I can pay gym membership fees for over two years, and don’t have to buy or maintain any equipment, entry fees, or insurance policies.
Quitting triathlon for me was a combination of bike safety, cost, and lack of local events. My balance, and reaction time is going south with age, and after several close calls, it was a no brainer, to stop the insanity. Plus, with no local event anymore, I had nothing to train for, so that helps. Retired on a fixed income, with aging equipment, I could only afford one IM a year. I’m not going to put all my free time into one event. Going to the gym is affordable, I won’t crash or get killed by a texting driver, I feel better than ever, I’m not forever tired and fatigued, and I have tons of time to spend on my other hobby.
Could look at getting a custom, made to measurements, steel or ti frame frome a builder?
Too hurt to run anymore
No Bikes fit me
Swimming is not super enjoyable
Realised today after 25 years of trying, I can run for 6 weeks do a good time, then get hurt
The bike industry doesn’t make bikes for ex basketball players
Swimming on its own does not do it for me.
What do others do when SBR is not a choice?
Loved most days and events, but realised today it doesn’t love me (even if I am doing them as individual sports)
I feel like I can relate to your post. I am at a crossroads myself with triathlon. I used to be good at the full distance. At least for the four I did in my late 40s. The last two (very recently) have both been very different and I feel my biking has fallen off a cliff. But I’m female and post-menopausal. Yet I can’t blame everything on that.
Like you I can’t run train properly without niggles and injuries (had PF from 2021 into 2022). And a recent stress fracture scare 3 weeks before Kona. I can’t do speed work w/o niggles and have to be so careful with long runs (I used to hammer them 5-6 years ago). Just for context, I used to be able to do a 3:36 and 3:37 IM marathon. Kona was just over 5 hours (awful for me)
And I can’t seem to get comfortable or properly fit on my new tri-bike (after 3 pro bike fits). I have said that if everyone felt like me on a tri-bike, triathlon would die as a sport.
Why not try a shorter distance for a year and see how that goes? I am going to focus on the 70.3 distance for 2024. Just an idea for you. Maybe try some shorter races. Still equally honorable. Shorter, the faster and that can be hard too. But I know my body can handle 56 miles on a bike much better than 112 miles.
Too hurt to run anymore
No Bikes fit me
Swimming is not super enjoyable
Realised today after 25 years of trying, I can run for 6 weeks do a good time, then get hurt
The bike industry doesn’t make bikes for ex basketball players
Swimming on its own does not do it for me.
What do others do when SBR is not a choice?
Loved most days and events, but realised today it doesn’t love me (even if I am doing them as individual sports)
Get a dog and do agility with it.
Over here in Germany you can do trail running where dogs are allowed.
In the summer go to a beach where dogs are allowed.
I quit Tri because my kids are too busy these days and I no longer had the time to train an amount necessary for me to be competitive. I thought I would still be a fair weather cyclist but too many people I knew kept getting run over so I sold all of my bikes (didn’t want said kids to grow up without a dad as my dad passed when I was 15 and it was terrible).
I tried running for just fitness with no goal races but that quickly loses its luster.
I tried weight lifting on my own but that got boring af.
I started doing CrossFit earlier this spring as something new to try and I like it so far. Things I like about it:
No Bikes fit me
(…)
The bike industry doesn’t make bikes for ex basketball players
Have you seen Connor from GCN? Get a XL-XXL frame, endurance geometry.
PICKLEBALL!!!
That is all, carry on.
When I realized I was only caring about the race to T2, and then treating the run as a cycling victory parade.
No Bikes fit me
(…)
The bike industry doesn’t make bikes for ex basketball players
Have you seen Connor from GCN? Get a XL-XXL frame, endurance geometry.
.
.
Here you go…
https://youtu.be/DHAwyjPbDaw?si=W6N1VMA8cnd94uAK
Too hurt to run anymore
No Bikes fit me
Swimming is not super enjoyable
Realised today after 25 years of trying, I can run for 6 weeks do a good time, then get hurt
The bike industry doesn’t make bikes for ex basketball players
Swimming on its own does not do it for me.
What do others do when SBR is not a choice?
Loved most days and events, but realised today it doesn’t love me (even if I am doing them as individual sports)
T1 at Steelhead this year. After 20+ years in the sport, I realized I wasn’t having fun any more. I packed up and went home. A few weeks later, I bought a sail boat. I will always be a cyclist, but I’m retired from tri.
I was standing in the ocean just over 2 years ago wondering that same thing.
Was also wondering how to get up over the small sandbar with a calf that tore medially from origination to insertion and then a 4 inch tear on the midline.
No one races forever. It ends for everyone. Had been struggling with calf injuries for the previous 4-5 seasons and it was showing in my run times. Was going to stop after the next season but the body said F U we’re stopping now.
There were thoughts of I’ll just ride more maybe get back into bike racing or swim more but really with no races on the books, I don’t. You know what? I kinda like it, half the time anyway.
After starting tri’s back in the late 80s, running HS and college XC, swimming year round, racing and training always for something, it’s nice to not have to go workout. Obviously ymmv.
I still hobby job a little, some weeks are 10 miles some are 6 some are 22.
Was asked to coach the distance track program at a HS last year which lead to being the head XC coach at a different school this year. Having fun with that, mostly. Doing a lot more in person coaching with my AZ based athletes as well which is nice.
Even thinking of starting a squad for AG athletes that have the desire and talent to turn pro and pro’s who have been in the sport for 1-3 years and want to be a contender to win some cash every race yet aren’t quite there yet.
Still not sure what I do with my time, some projects here and there, sit on a BOD and run a committee plus serve on a few more, most of the household chores so the wife has an easier life since she no longer wfh.
Yet I’m still trying to figure out what’s next. Although life has a funny way of doing that for you as well.
It’s been more aero testing, more bike fitting, more hands on work with athletes, I’m reading more non work related stuff doing more house related projects that I put off.
The TLDR is start trying lots of things. I know you said no to pickleball but honestly it’s kinda fun, you meet a ton of people which can lead to other things to do. start reading more, start walking more, go hiking, learn photography or something else.
keep a notepad or pads around to start jotting down ideas when they pop in your head. Try other sports that you thought were lame, or didn’t have the time to do bc of triathlon.
Lot’s of other people in your shoes wondering the same thing as you
Why not try a shorter distance for a year and see how that goes? I am going to focus on the 70.3 distance for 2024. Just an idea for you. Maybe try some shorter races. Still equally honorable. Shorter, the faster and that can be hard too. But I know my body can handle 56 miles on a bike much better than 112 miles.
Some-one like Alistair or Gwen might think winning the OIympics is pretty honorable as does the Olympic committee.
Why not try a shorter distance for a year and see how that goes? I am going to focus on the 70.3 distance for 2024. Just an idea for you. Maybe try some shorter races. Still equally honorable. Shorter, the faster and that can be hard too. But I know my body can handle 56 miles on a bike much better than 112 miles.
Some-one like Alistair or Gwen might think winning the OIympics is pretty honorable as does the Olympic committee.
Hahaha yes! I totally respect shorter distances. I have chosen to do long distances mostly because I used to be better at long distances. Not so much at the moment. Same with running. I used to be good at the open marathon but not so good at 5Ks. 5Ks still terrify me. I can’t redline it. Even when younger. I used to be more like a big diesel. Not super-fast but can go a long time at a good clip.
I’ve never done an Olympic distance mostly because I need a longer bike/run compared to the swim. However I would like to try one in 2024.
When USAT and Xterra cancelled championship races.
The bike industry doesn’t make TT bikes for me either. (on the other end of the spectrum)
Edit:
“What do others do when SBR is not a choice?”
I bought a motorcycle and started to do track days.
This is the first time in my (comparatively) short triathlon “career” where taking a break from the two-a-day grind isn’t necessarily accompanied with loads of guilt.
But I’m afraid to give myself permission to not gear up for another season of 70.3/Ironman racing. I’m still young (33), no kids, and I’ve come a damn long way from where I began, but I’ve never gone to Kona, never won a 70.3, never got a pro license, never went sub-4 in a 70.3. There are still achievements in the sport I haven’t reached, but knowing what the grind of a 20 hour training week feels like mid-May, I don’t know if I want it anymore.
To answer OP’s question more directly: I finished IMMD (first IM) in September, and ever since then I’ve had a lack of drive to do more than one session a day to “stay in shape.” I raced a 110 mi gravel event two weeks ago, and it was probably one of the hardest events I’ve done. I hung onto the 5-person lead group for 45 minutes until I just realized that I didn’t have the power to keep up. I finished the race and did relatively well, but I hit a mental bottom at mile 70. I was in the middle of nowhere, under-fueled, questioning whether I really ever wanted to do any form of race again. It was that emptiness that I’m wrestling with now.