Durability for Life

10 Tips to Race into Your 60s!

Racing to 3rd at 52 in the Duathlon World Championships.

​The hot training buzz word is durability.  Creating realistic workouts that build fatigue resistance for longer events.

As a racer I understand and have always incorporated this into my athletes’ workouts. Fundamentally your training must simulate race conditions such as heat, humidity, hills and duration.  And you need to test late in these workouts to establish sustainable HR, Pace and Power targets.

I also think of durability in the context of not just an athlete’s training, but also in the context of a racer’s longevity. 
​
I’ve been racing over 50 years.  I love it and want to compete as long as possible.  At 66 years old there is no escaping father time.  Slowing down is inevitable, but I am still able to compete at a high level, and as always strive to be the best I can.  My focus has shifted from winning overall to being the top master in a local race on the podium at a National or World Championship race.

10 Tips to Race into Your 60s!

1. Safety First:  As they say it’s not a question of if but when you crash.  I’ve broken many bones, got hit by a truck, and even had to have surgery.  As you age you become more fragile and don’t recover as fast, which makes it super important to seek safe training routes.  Group rides in SW Florida are fun but inherently dangerous.  We are riding fast in a paceline on the narrow shoulder of a road inches away from high-speed traffic. These days I mix up big group rides with gravel biking, indoor-virtual, and smaller group rides with my training partners to limit risk. 
 
2. Find Great Training Partners:  Seek training partners, you trust, who have excellent bike handling skills, and whose pace is compatible.  I’ve been blessed to have my wife as my default training partner!
 
3. Start with a strong body and engine!  This is obvious, your performance will slow as you age, so the stronger you start the better!  When I turned 50, I was super strong from many years of hard training and racing.  The picture above was taken when I was 52, racing to 3rd in the Duathlon World Championships.  Back then I didn’t lift weights, but my shoulders and collar bones were naturally a lot bigger and stronger than today, For sure that extra muscle has helped me survive post 50 crashes and allow me to continue racing deep into my 60’s.
 
4. Dedicate More Time to Strength Training and Flexibility:  Our bodies naturally lose 10-20% of muscle mass per decade in our 50s.  Older endurance athletes should allocate at least 20% of your training time to strength training and flexibility (focus on core, stability and range of motion with light weights).  I strive to work this into my routine every day.
 
5. Quality Not Quantity:  Match your training to your race distance.  5 Hour death marches in 100 degrees will do more harm than good if your target race duration is 2 hours.  Controlled speed work and focused endurance is what you need.
 
6. Listen to Your Body:  Days off are just important as hard days in your training week.  If you feel run down, rest and recover.  And if you are working through an injury, give your body time to heal.
 
7. Hydration and Nutrition is More Important:  As we age, the margin for error in hydration and nutrition shrink, making proper fueling crucial for performance, muscle mass, bone density, and overall health while staying active.  We are more susceptible to dehydration, and our protein intake needs to be higher than younger athletes.
 
8. Sleep Quality is Key:  Quality sleep is crucial to recovery.  Be intentional with your sleep habits (this may include a daytime nap) and try and get 8-9 hours of quality sleep per day.
 
9. Seek the best Sports Medicine Doctors:  In this age of joint replacement, seek out the best Sports Medicine Doctor you can find.  Ask your training group, ask for referrals.  Your choice could be the difference between ending something you love or continuing to enjoy it for years to come.  I had one Dr. recommended some less evasion Achilles surgery to me, and fortunately I was able to get a second opinion with one of the top sports surgeons in the field.  He did an MRI and evaluated me and said I would never be able to continue running like I am now after the operation.  I held off, changed my training and race duration and I’m still running strong!
 
10. Use it or lose it!  One of my sayings is that “training is training and racing is racing!”  Meaning your racing should be at a whole different level than training workouts.  And you should pick B and C training races to build to your target A races.  If you want to reach and be your best, continue RACING!

I hope to see you at a race soon!

GP

---