LESSONS OF GROWING OLDER
Last month I participated in the Santa Cruz 70.3 Ironman Triathlon for the second time. I did it in October 2016, and came in third in my age group (although there were only 4 of us in the 70-74 years old group). I trained for several months before that event, but not especially hard: I ran 12-14 miles a week, biked 60-70 miles a week and swam 1 mile+ two or three times a week (because I’m a poor swimmer and was afraid I wouldn’t meet the time limit of 70 minutes for the 1.2 miles). At the event, I finished the swim with 5 minutes to spare, the 56-mile bike ride at a good clip and the 13.1-mile run in enough time to complete this half Ironman in 8 hours 15 minutes, 15 minutes under the time limit.
This year I trained about the same amount, thinking I could pretty much do the same times again. I was wrong! I finished the swim with just one minute to spare and the bike ride only 5 minutes under the limit. I then had 3 hours to finish the half marathon. Thing was, my quads were worn out from the bike ride—I couldn’t run. I would start to jog and after a minute or two have to walk. I did this again and again until I realized I wasn’t going to finish within the time limit.
That was the very first event in all these years that I didn’t finish. I had excuses: The day before I walked at least 8 miles, where I probably should have walked little or none. I didn’t sleep well the night before—probably only getting 5 hours. But I think the real reason I couldn’t finish was that I was 2 years older and going from 73 to 75 was a bigger leap than I had thought. I’m sure if I had trained a bunch more—and done “bricks” –where I biked a long distance and then ran for a while I probably could have finished. Still, the main lesson is that aging is real, and I need to adjust my training and the events I enter.
Fortunately, this past Sunday I ran the Ventura Half Marathon. Still, I took a hard fall at mile 10 and my forearm bled buckets as I ran the last 3 miles. I think again, part of growing older. But I finished! After the Santa Cruz 70.3 Ironman, I HAD to finish this half marathon.
I’m dropping out of the Arizona Ironman that I had hoped to accomplish next month. I’m too beaten up to do it. Plus, since I’m still working, I just can’t find the time to train properly. It’s hard facing facts—that my growing older is going to take some adjusting.
I won’t lapse into incapacity. I’ll just choose my events differently. Next year I’ll only do local triathlons—Olympic distances in Ventura & Carpinteria and a longer event in Santa Barbara. And I’ll keep doing half marathons every couple of months and maybe a full marathon this winter. There is one benefit to being 75—I’m in a new age group. So if I can finish, I can usually get on the podium.
Yet, I wonder what reality decisions I’ll have to make in 2 years when I’m that much older?