Friday Tri: Going Faster At 40

A friend asked me recently if I was still getting faster in races at my age. I told her that I was. She wanted to know how I managed to do that, since most people tend to slow down.

The first part of the answer is that I was never much of an athlete before I hit 35, so I have some space to keep getting faster. I am not bothered by the realization that I will never be as fast as I was in high school. I wasn’t fast in high school. I’m faster now.

The second part of the answer is a little more complicated. The reality is that I don’t do harder workouts than I used to do 8 years ago. I try to save going hard for races most of the time, and I race twice a month on average in the summer. In fact, in a lot of ways I try to do things to make training easier.

a—I sleep more. Years ago, I believed that I was one of those lucky people who got by on 5-6 hours of sleep a night. This was a lie I told myself. I was always frustrated about my lack of performance on race day. Now I sleep 8-9 hours a night. All that training has to be absorbed, and it happens during sleep.

b—I eat better. And when I say that, I don’t mean that I try to eat better, which is what I used to do. I mean I actually monitor what I eat. I write it all down in a computerized log and I have specific targets each day and then different targets the week before a race. For my weight, I try to get 300 grams of carbs in every day the week before the race, and try to keep my fiber intake to 10 grams the day before a race. I keep protein at 50 grams a day minimum and fat has to be below 20% of my daily calories.

c—I keep a journal of my training. This is cheap and it honestly doesn’t take much time, no more than 1-2 minutes a day. I write down what I did (swim, bike, run, weights, yoga) and how long I did it for in hours and minutes. I write down mph and incline if I’m on the treadmill and watts if I’m on the bike indoors. If not, I write down the route I took and approximate mileage. What this does it let me page back to any day in the last 6 years and see what I was doing. If I want race results like last year, I try to mimic last year’s workouts the weeks leading up to that race.

d—I race less often. It can be tempting for me to simply do any race that comes along. Small races that are locally run are fun because they require less driving, cost less, and allow me to place overall. But doing too many of those kinds of races leads to fatigue that builds up and impacts my larger races. So I don’t do it.

e—simple rule: never use something on race day that you haven’t used in training. I cannot tell you how many times I have messed up a race not listening to this simple rule. A new top or pair of shorts or shoes. Or socks. Or fuel. Just don’t do it. Stick with what you know works.

f—have fun. Yes, racing is hard work, but there is a glorious feeling in knowing your body has been honed to perfection for a race, in feeling the motion that your body can do now and couldn’t before. There is the cameraderie of racing with others in the same event, some friends or family. And there is the pleasure of the finish line.