Aging Slowly
This month, Joe Friel has posted six new entries in his blog on the aging athlete. His summary of research, and subsequent recommendations, pretty much confirms what most of us know: work works, and age is just a question of mind over matter - if you don't mind, it don't matter:
http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2013/09/index.html
One stat towards the end speaks to how slowly we can expect to slow down, once we've maxed out potential ... it's about 6%/decade, or a little more than half a percent per year. I use this number to set goals for myself, based on previous performances, and the time since them.
In 2008/9, I went 10:55/6 @ IM AZ. So I should be able to go 11:20 or a tick under this year???
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Or do you interpret his writing as implying that the annual OS training is enough?
Al - I've been following Freil's blog as well. Maintaining slow twitch fibers as we age is not hard to do, which is why I like the "fast before far' philosophy. Building fast twitch fibers along with healthy mitochondria is key to keeping speed as we age. I'm a believer in CoQ10 100-200 mg a day to protect mitochondria from the oxidative damage our sport does to us!.
A nice explanation on aging and mitochondria:
http://www.afar.org/docs/migrated/1...IA_Web.pdf
I am heading towards the top of AG 55-59 and it is gettig harder to race against women just 4 years younger.
I have worked out with a guy 72 that has gone to Ironman 3 years and still can out run many younger.
Key words in my book: consistency, intensity, mental upkeep, surrounding one self with positive people, recovery, diet/ fluid intake, use the tools (powermeter, etc) but also go by how I feel (PE) and and of course a beer or two. All this is known by the EN crowd. This year(2013) I did not include much resistant training (bands or weights). I believe this may have been a limiter. Although the bike intensity and climbs helped with that phase of workouts. This season 2013-2014 Im now back into using bands, TRX and some weights/balls along with keeping the running in check. The recovery days has helped in those higher intensity intervals to come back fresher. Thats common sense. The short road races in the OS phase help keep that age thing in the corral.
Al, et al, (I couldn't resist!)
I've been following Joe's blog as well and I have been doing higher intensity stuff this year. I'll be 57 next week and I just posted my fastest marathon time besting my old PR, which I set in 2001 and matched earlier this year, by 7 minutes. I also did my fastest bike split in a HIM earlier this year as well. The workouts are challenging but thankfully they're usually short and my dog loves the fast intervals with the walk breaks so he can sniff.
I'm new to EN so one thing I wonder about is how do the plans work for older athletes?
Mark
Hey Mark ... I do a lot of my rides down in Thurston County, eg, a loop from Dupont/Yelm/Rainier as part of my long ride getting ready for an Ironman.
Is EN a good fit for older athletes? I think results speak for themselves. In the past couple of years, we've had four over-60 athletes win their AG in Ironman races. I'd challenge any other coaching program or tri team to match that ratio of athletes over 60 participating to winners. Personally, I got my Ironman PR when I was 60 after racing for ten years. Part of that is the training plans, which emphasize judicious doses of intensity. And part of it is that EN teaches and encourages smart racing. Combine the wily experience of us seniors with EN's racing strategy, and its almost like cheating.
The training plans were really designed for folks who are time-crunched, and need to maximize the value of each workout. Turns out, that's just what seniors need - we can't handle a lot of volume, as we need more and more time for recovery. And intensity is just the thing we DO need. So the EN plans are perfect for us, giving us the work we need without the excess time which would exhaust us. As long as we train smart and know when to take a day off now and then, we can really thrive in this program. I don't think the coaches necessarily had that in mind when they first started out, but experience is proving the EN way is like a PED for us.
We also have some folks in their 50s who aren't too shabby, either ...
I agree, my legs start to feel *really* tired and complaining 2.5 hours into a 4.5 hour Saturday ride. Or after 20-25 minutes worth of FTP intervals, when the wko calls for 40. I use the recovery times as total coasting, with an IF of, maybe 0.4. That helps. But the main thing that helps is more training. Meaning, the closer I get to my race, the "easier" it is to push myself to do the effort the plan demands. I usually don't feel "good" until the end of the training plan, meaning during the two weeks before a race.
It's another case of "50% of the game is 90% mental". Each week in the final 8 before an Ironman, or during the OS, I find myself being able to do a little bit harder/longer on those long Saturday rides or FTP intervals and finally, during the last 1 or 2 (and in the last RR), I start to find a semblance of feeling like I am capable. The rest of the time, it's just plain hard "work", which as we all know, works.
That's why our coaches say, "Fitness is in the muscles, not the cardiovascular system". The muscles are supposed to get tired; that means the workout is working.
That reminds me of the military phrase 10% physical 90% mental. I have learned how ever if your not trained up for the task which means..... the percentages really don't apply.
I have read a book "Born to Run" in which the author quotes an exercise Phys as saying your peak running years are 17 thru 27; with 27 being the fastest you can expect, and he further says you can be as fast at 64 as 17. Not 64 and 27 but 17 years old as the developing young person. From there he writes it's a gradual decline.
It is a very good book by the way.
I think that with age comes wisdom and part of that wisdom is getting in touch with your body. I think that life is an experiment of 1. Find out what works for you. I agree with Sheila that in the older age groups the physical differences are bigger with each year. Almost reverting back to middle and high school where there was a big difference physically between an 8th grader and freshman or sophomore. In the 30s and 40s not that much of a difference between a 31 year old and a 34 year old. Big difference between a 61 year old and 64 year old. IMO (oh yeah, that means In My Opinion for those of us not so Twitter, text etc) ::
By the way, I was at a triathlon last Sunday where Bill Bell was competing at AGE 91. For a while Bill held the honor as the oldest finisher at Kona. Great ambassador for the sport of triathlon and has appeared on Leno and Letterman.
This weekend I raced a triathlon against my 26 year old son. I was faster than him in the swim and bike, and both T1 and T2 building a lead of 2:08 going into a longish 5 mile run leg. At the end, he was 3:42 ahead. I won my age and took 15th OA (out of about 165) but that really shows the impact that age has on running more than the other two legs.
Hi Al,
Thurston and Lewis counties have some great bicycling roads. I feel blessed that I can be in the country 15 minutes after I pull out of the driveway on my bike. We meet years ago on a Courage Classic ride and my brother is Don Maurer formerly of Gig Harbor (I used to live in GH too.)
Hmm ... it may depend on one's background. I started AG swimming @ 11, on into HS and college. I did some serious biking (though not racing) starting around age 43, then started running @ age 50. Comparing my IM splits from 2000 >> 2013 (FL >> AZ), Swimming went from 1:06 to 1:14, bike from 5:45 >> 5:43, and running from 4:22 >> 4:11 (CAL>>AZ). Training seriously, with intensity helped my cycling and running, but not my swim. I think that's because I had long since max'd my potential in the water, but had opportunities for improvement in biking, and started from square one in running.