Triathletes over age 50 struggle to find senior specific triathlon training plans. This is the major reason for partnering with Our Coaches, each who are also senior triathletes.
The genesis of this post and my conversation with Senior Triathletes coach Kurt Madden was a question from one of our readers. Linda, a new female triathlete over age 60 wrote:
“How do you change a triathlon training program that is meant for everyone, to one that works for a female over 60?”
The Senior Triathletes’ Challenge – Finding An Age-Specific Training Program
Looking back over my time in triathlon, I appreciate the challenge of finding the right training plan. What part of a training plan found in a book or online is appropriate for an older athlete, or specifically for me? Or for us as we age from 50 to 60 and beyond?
This is especially true when the mainstream endurance sports writers consider a man or woman age 40 to be an ‘older athlete’.
As you will hear, Kurt knows firsthand how the needs of a truly older athlete differ from their younger self. In this conversation, he gives us principles to use in adapting generic training information and hints for preventing injury and maintaining an active life for the long term.
Stress plus rest equals growth.
Kurt Madden, “Over 60” triathlete coach and athlete
Coach Kurt Madden’s Advice on Making Triathlon Training Specific to the Older Endurance Athlete
Recording of my conversation with triathlon coach and senior triathlete Kurt Madden about how to adapt general training plans for athletes over age 60.
Milestones in our Conversation
If you don’t have time to listen to the entire conversation now, you can download it for later listening. You can also jump to a specific point within the conversation.
1:02 – Kurt’s answer to Linda’s question begins with three principles for adapting general training and exercise programs.
3:58 – What to look for in generic training and exercise plans.
7:22 – Best ways for those over 60 to prevent injury when training.
10:51 – Nutrition: How to – and how not to – fuel your body during a training program.
15:09 – Alternatives to trial and error in adapting general training plans.
20:29 – How to develop a consistent, sustainable exercise program.
27:17 – Kurt’s tribute to three senior triathletes from age 78 to 92.
Related Links
Atomic Habits – Kurt mentioned this book, one I had previously reviewed from the perspective of a triathlete.
TriDot.com – This page shows the training plan options mentioned by Kurt Madden in the recording.
It’s Time for Your Questions and Comments
What questions do you have for Kurt?
Of Kurt’s advice, what did you find most interesting or thought provoking?
Based on his comments, how will your approach to generic training and exercise programs change?
Post your comments below. You may also contact Kurt Madden directly using the email address on his profile page.
Comments: Please note that I review all comments before they are posted. You will be notified by email when your comment is approved. Even if you do not submit a comment, you may subscribe to be notified when a comment is published.
What has inspired Pat Hawks to take part in the sport of triathlon? To answer this, she took me back to her childhood.
Growing up in southern California, Pat loved to swim and surf in the Pacific Ocean. She also learned valuable life lessons from a mother who refused to give up, despite serious challenges.
After contracting polio at age two, Pat’s mother never walked. However, even though doctors told her she would never have children and not live past age 50, she raised a family and learned to drive a car. She also lived longer than everyone in her immediate family.
What is also remarkable about Pat’s mother is that she taught Pat to swim. Because of her mom’s exceptional upper body strength, Pat never won a swim race between her mother and her.
Seeing her mother accomplish so many things no one expected her to do inspired Pat. Today, Pat often dedicates her rides and runs to her mother, since these were things her mother could not do.
Pat is also determined to pass on her mother’s perseverance to her children. It’s working. Her daughter, Heather, tells others about the difficulty of keeping up with her mother. Pat hopes her children will pass on her legacy to the next generation.
Keeping up the tradition. Pat Hawks’ example inspired her daughter, Heather, to run the 2017 Maui Marathon with her.
Pat Hawks – Mother, Teacher, Writer, Hair Stylist and More
Pat has had a rich life, full of diverse experiences.
During a 20-year period in which Pat raised three sons and a daughter, she stayed physically active, albeit with different companions than today. Pat swam and biked with her kids. She also enjoyed water-skiing and running.
Pat was also a Girl Scout leader for the troop to which her daughter, Heather, belonged. One day, she learned that Heather and her friends were going to quit Girl Scouts. They no longer wanted to sell cookies, take part in parades, or do community service projects. They just wanted to focus on badges.
Rather than allowing them to quit, she negotiated with them. They would sell one box of cookies, complete one community service project of their choosing, and identify badge goals.
The first badge goal the girls chose was survival hiking. Through this, Pat learned that she loves hiking. She would draw on this love a few years later.
This experience also became the basis for one of several books she has written. Under Their Wings is the story of her time mentoring those in her daughter’s Girl Scout troop.
Work Outside the Home
Pat also worked as a hair stylist, retiring from the profession after 35 years. She did so when aerosol cans were prevalent and before chemicals carried warning labels and ventilation was required. She credits her decision to add ventilation to her salon for the good health she enjoys, despite what many of her peers have experienced.
After retiring from hair styling, Pat became a parenting teacher. In this role, Pat worked through the court system of the State of Hawaii to teach mothers and fathers how to be parents.
Following this, she became a yoga instructor for seniors, something she continues today. She leads classes both on-line and at a beach in Maui, Hawaii. She also offers a hot yoga class.
For Pat Hawks, hiking to the top of tall mountains is both a hobby and a means of endurance training for triathlon. So far, she has hiked about thirty mountains in the northwest USA.
Joining the Triathlete Community
Suddenly, at age 50, Pat found herself newly divorced. She started ballroom dancing. And, remembering the fun she had hiking with the Girl Scout troop she led more that a decade earlier, she started a hiking club. She learned that physical exercise was a way to combat depression resulting from the divorce.
Around this time, she also met a friend in her 40s at work who was training for a half Ironman 70.3 triathlon. The woman invited Pat to train and do the race with her. However, after looking at the distances of each of the legs, Pat declined. After all, she hadn’t swum any significant distance for many years.
Not accepting this answer, Pat’s co-worker argued, “If you can hike thirty miles into the wilderness with a thirty-pound backpack for three days at 10,000 feet, you can do this.”
An Important Lesson About Training for Older Athletes
She initially started training for the triathlon with a group of younger, 40-year-old people. However, early in the training, she had a lot of knee pain when following the group’s training plan.
She visited her orthopedic surgeon, who was also the sports medicine doctor for the local high school. He told her she was pushing herself too hard.
Pat remembers him telling her, “You cannot train like the 40-year-olds. You are a senior. Do one session per day, not two.” She followed his advice and trained in one swim, bike, or run activity each day for three days. On the fourth day, she did yoga and rested.
Ironically, Pat, who was age 51, and another person in their 50s, were the only ones from the original training group who finished the race. Three of the people in their 40s dropped out before race day or didn’t finish the race because of injuries.
While she did not finish on the podium, Pat completed the race and each leg with time to spare. She walked away healthy, injury free, and happy.
Seeking To Inspire Others
Looking back, Pat saw how difficult it was to restart training after thirty years of raising an active and a busy family. It wasn’t until her last child graduated from high school she could include regular exercise into her schedule. Training for the first triathlon was hard. Really hard.
She never again wanted to restart from near scratch in building physical endurance. She was going to keep moving from now on.
After completing her first triathlon, she scheduled another half Ironman. For this race, she tried to convince her three sons to do the triathlon with her.
When they told her she was crazy for racing at this age, she suggested that the three brothers form a relay team, with each completing one leg of the triathlon.
Before race day, two of Pat’s sons had dropped out, leaving her 21-year-old son, Stacy, to race alone. Even with an injury, Stacy completed the triathlon on his own, saying “If one old lady can do it, I can do it”.
Pat Hawks and her son, Stacy, crossed the finish line of the Kings Trail Triathlon together.
Inspired to Continue With Triathlon
Today, at age 68, Pat splits her time between Maui, Hawaii and several western states of the mainland USA. She continues to compete in sprint triathlons and marathons. She still enjoys ballroom dancing and hiking mountains in Hawaii and on the mainland. When we spoke, she was preparing for a century (100 mile or 160 km) bike ride in Maui, Hawaii.
Pat’s strategy for continuing to compete in triathlon is three-fold: (1) do some physical activity every day with a goal in mind, (2) eat well, and (3) destress to stay healthy.
She does this for many reasons. First, she believes that good health results from these goals and choices.
Second, she sees these choices as a way of both honoring her mom and passing on her mother’s legacy to her children. As her mother and grandmother impacted her, Pat hopes to inspire her children and others to make choices that will keep them healthy and physically active.
For Pat, there is actually one more source of inspiration to stay with triathlon. She loves the feeling of elation coming from finishing a race or reaching the summit of a mountain. Anticipating this feeling keeps her going whenever she is struggling during a training activity, hike, or race.
How Pat Trains for Triathlon and Other Endurance Activities
For Pat, what some call training is simply time to do physical activities that she loves. This self-coached approach is based on advice over the past 20 years from medical professionals, especially her orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine doctor and her chiropractor.
Since she believes consistency is key, Pat spends one hour each day either swimming, biking, running, or walking. Her belief about the importance of consistency is shared by many, including coach Tony Washington, whose advice on daily strength training can be found here.
On any day, you could find Pat going for a one mile swim in the ocean, a four-mile run/walk, or a one hour bike ride with some hills. She swims every other or every third day. And based on the advice of her doctor, she never runs over four miles.
She is also a believer in yoga for muscle flexibility and the body’s overall health. Pat is convinced that yoga is the crucial piece of her training, holding the keys to her being able to train for a sport as physically and mentally demanding as triathlon.
Yoga is so central to Pat’s ability to compete in triathlon that on the day before a race, she completes two yoga sessions, one in the morning and one in the evening. She does these to get the body tuned up and muscles toned. For her, this routine is key to safely running the race.
Some Weight Training
Pat also does some weight training, primarily to maintain bone density and prevent osteoporosis. This includes running with light ankle weight belts. For other weight training, Pat has learned to use lower weights with more repetitions. Sadly, her one experience with a personal trainer, in which he had her lift 50 pounds (23 kg) above her head landed her at a chiropractor.
Pat also considers hiking and ballroom dancing part of her training. “Hiking is especially good for building endurance.”
Choosing Health Through Nutrition
Hanging over the door in her yoga studio is a sign that reads “Food is our FARMacy”. She does not take supplements. Instead, Pat believes in juicing fruits and vegetables to get the vitamins and minerals needed to remain healthy.
Pat recommends new triathletes learn about nutrition and hydration alongside learning about swimming, biking, and running.
Having seen the terrible consequences of becoming dehydrated in other triathletes, Pat has become a stickler for staying hydrated, especially during hard exercise and races. To make sure she has adequate electrolytes, she likes coconut water because of its potassium content.
Her pre-race ritual includes consuming 1/2 liter of coconut water. She also carries her own water during the bike and the run legs to supplement that provided by the race organizer.
Pat has become so good at staying hydrated that, in a recent race, she finished with “my bladder ready to burst.”
Advice for Seniors Thinking About Triathlon
From the lessons learned on her triathlon journey, Pat offers the following advice for the over-50 person who wants to do a triathlon.
First, she says, talk to your healthcare professional about your plan. Pat bases this on the value of advice she received from her doctor when she was training for her first triathlon. For example, he advised her to start with a run-walk combination. He also took her shopping for the correct running shoes for her.
Second, Pat says, start slow, learn your limits, and keep at it. “You will be astounded at the improvements.”
Pat reminds us that as we start, realize that you can’t train like your 40-year-old self. Be careful about the weights you use in strength training. More repetitions (reps) with lower weight are both effective and will help prevent injury.
Once you have started, be consistent. Do some training every day, preferably with a friend or group of people close to your age. They will help to hold you accountable. Just remember to never compare yourself to anyone else.
Finally, Pat says that once you have decided to do a triathlon, sign up for a race and pay the entry fee. In most cases, this will prevent self-doubt from derailing your plan.
Remember, The Tortoise Won the Race
Pat’s advice is to be like the fabled tortoise, for whom slow and steady won the race. She remembers the accomplishments of her mother and grandmother. She appreciates that she can move and wants to stay active as long as possible.
If that is not enough, she need only look at those around her who are older, some in their 80s and 90s, that get up each day and start moving despite the many pains.
She is especially excited to see those who get back capability they thought had been lost for good. Pat remembers an 80-year-old woman from her yoga class who came into class one morning with fist in the air, proudly announcing “I just put on my pants without sitting down on the bed.”
Seeing other’s health and fitness, including strength and balance, improve through continued exercise and a yoga discipline is motivating.
What Inspired You To Do Your First Triathlon? To Continue?
What was the reason you did your first triathlon or are now planning to do it? What has kept you in triathlon or other multi-sport endurance events?
Please share what motivates and inspires you in the Comments below.
Comments: Please note that I review all comments before they are posted. You will be notified by email when your comment is approved. Even if you do not submit a comment, you may subscribe to be notified when a comment is published.
I recently spoke with Senior Triathletes coach Tony Washington about strength training and its importance to senior triathletes and other multi-sport endurance athletes. According to Tony, strength training should be looked at as the fourth discipline in triathlon, especially for senior athletes.
Strength Training for Senior Multisport Endurance Athletes
Since publishing my experience with triathlon icon Mark Allen’s strength training program, the post has consistently ranked among the top three most read on SeniorTriathletes.com.
This is not surprising given the intrinsic loss of strength with age, beginning around age 40. There is plenty of evidence to show that we may not stop this decline, but we can absolutely slow it down through consistent strength training. This includes some strength training everyday, according to Tony Washington.
For a sedate person, starting at about age 40, they can lose as much as a percent of strength per year.
Tony Washington
Before you leave thinking you don’t have time to go to the gym seven days a week, listen to Tony’s approach to strength training and how you can supplement visits to the gym or weight room with strength training while going about your day.
My Conversation with Tony Washington
Recording of my conversation with triathlon coach and senior triathlete Tony Washington
Milestones in our Conversation
If you don’t have time to listen to the entire conversation now, you can download it for later listening. You can also jump to a specific point within the conversation. Just remember, points later in the conversation often build on those Tony made earlier in it.
1:11 – Strength training is underappreciated in triathlon
3:07 – Key goal for strength training
5:15 – Ways strength training for seniors differs from that for our younger selves
8:25 – Three targets for strength training
13:37 – Changes in strength training for seniors as we age
18:41 – Differences in strength training between men and women
21:30 – Approaching strength training when transitioning from a single endurance sport to triathlon
24:55 – Influence of race distance on strength training
27:11 – Reader question about preventing injury when strength training for the bike
30:30 – Final advice: “Do some strength training every day.”
My Main Takeaway About Strength Training for Senior Triathletes
Strength training that improves stability, mobility, and strength is key to healthy aging and preventing injuries in triathlon. Fortunately, we can all find ways to include some strength training throughout our day.
How has your idea of strength training been changed by Tony’s perspective? What did you find most interesting or thought provoking?
Post your comments below. You may also contact Tony Washington directly using the email address on his profile page.
Comments: Please note that I review all comments before they are posted. You will be notified by email when your comment is approved. Even if you do not submit a comment, you may subscribe to be notified when a comment is published.
Growing up, I had a full range of camping experiences. My parents, my siblings, and I started with a tent, graduated to a pop-up trailer, and then to a pull-behind trailer. Actually, we camped in several pull-behind trailers, each longer than the previous one. I was fortunate to experience a lot of the USA during my youth in this way.
However, somewhere along the way, I fell out of love with camping. After marriage, Joy and I tried tent camping and camping from a conversion van with varying degrees of success. Allergies to tree pollen and almost guaranteed rain made camping a hit-or-miss experience.
But, I never gave up on camping completely.
Now, as I begin this post, I am sitting outside our rented RV in a KOA campground in northern Utah. It is 81°F with a light breeze blowing down the slopes of the Wasatch Mountains just to my east. Meanwhile, Joy, who came up with the idea for this latest run at camping, is sitting in the air-conditioned motor home.
Our Experiences Camping With a Triathlon
The idea of camping at or near the triathlon venue has been appealing. This was especially true if it meant less travel the day before and the day of the triathlon. Even without this benefit, camping meant being able to eat more ‘home cooked’ meals.
We had planned to tent camp at Lewis Creek County Park before the Best in the West Triathlon Festival outside Sweet Home, Oregon. However, as I reported in the post about this triathlon, we abandoned this idea because of the high temperature in early September.
Three years later, during our six-week road trip through the southeast part of the USA, we did camp using a tent.
Not surprisingly, it rained during the two-night stay at our first destination, outside Logan, Ohio, where I did my Ohio triathlon. To be fair, we followed this with two lovely nights of camping in Kentucky. Okay, it doesn’t always rain when we camp.
However, given the high temperatures in late September and early October further south, we left the tent in our van for the rest of that trip.
Our tent at the KOA Campgrounds outside Logan, Ohio, location of the Hocking Hills Sprint Triathlon. Our tent included two blow-up beds, a fan, and Joy’s special toilet, complete with a ‘Dora the Explorer’ seat. Let us know in the Comments below if you want more details. Joy will be happy to share these.
A Newer Experience – Motorhome Camping at a Triathlon
Our latest adventure of camping around a triathlon occurred last summer. This time, we rented a 24 foot Class C motorhome from a private party in Logan, Utah. For two weeks, the motorhome was our home.
From Logan, we drove to Truckee, California, for the Donner Lake Triathlon. It was at this triathlon that we stayed (for free) in a grassy parking area within a hundred yards of the transition area for the race. We both really enjoyed this.
After the race, we drove back to southeastern Idaho for the Preston Triathlon and Seeley Lake, Montana for the Seeley Lake Triathlon. You can read more about our camping adventures in the posts for these two triathlons.
What We Have Learned About Camping and Triathlon
Here are three things we have learned in our efforts to combine racing in a triathlon and camping.
1. Camping at the location of the race is convenient
While I have not polled the group, I am sure that triathletes are mostly early risers. I am an early riser; my wife, not so much.
Rising, checking out of the hotel, and driving to the race location, all in the dark, is what we do. And, it is the cross my wife willingly and cheerfully bears for being married to a triathlete.
It was incredibly convenient to awake on race day at the race venue. After setting up my transition area, I went back to the motorhome and enjoyed a protein smoothie and coffee while counting down the time for the race to begin. Meanwhile, Joy slept.
After waking, she watched through the back window of the motorhome while lying comfortably in bed as we completed the swim leg of our triathlon.
Camping at West End Beach in Truckee, California, in a rented RV. Joy watched the swim leg of the Donner Lake Triathlon from the comfort of our bed while peering out the back window of the motorhome. She was a ‘happy camper’.
2. You won’t necessarily save money
We paid for the tent through savings in the cost of hotel rooms while traveling to compete in the Ohio triathlon. The story is much different for the motorhome.
Motorhome camping is clearly more comfortable than tent camping. With air-conditioning, we slept well in the motorhome no matter the outside temperature. Since arriving well rested on race day is important, this is a plus.
There is also the benefit of eating food that we prepare. This is both more healthy and less costly. The gas stove and refrigerator in the motorhome made this convenient.
On the other hand, motorhome camping is expensive. The unit we rented averaged nine miles per gallon (mpg) compared to 25-30 mpg for our van. This was when gasoline was $5 to over $6 per gallon.
Add to the cost of the additional fuel, the costs of renting the unit, and parking it at campgrounds with electricity and water hookups, and we spent $250 to $300 per day for the convenience of a motorhome.
3. Camping leads to a new triathlon experience
Even though most triathlons do not offer an option of camping at the race venue, there are still wonderful benefits of camping nearby. It is a treat to be outdoors, exploring new areas of nature with its diverse fragrances, sounds, plants, birds, and other animals.
Once we get away from the city lights, it is wonderful how vast the night sky appears.
Camping along with a triathlon is another way to see God’s handiwork up close. I took this picture from Salmon Lake State Park (Seeley Lake, Montana), where we camped three nights before the Montana triathlon.
You Might Want to Try Camping and Triathlon
The more I travel, the less appealing hotels become.
As you plan your races for this season, you may want to think about camping at or near the race venue. Clearly, there are benefits.
Contact the race director to see what options for camping exist, especially for races held in city or county parks.
Have You Combined Camping and Triathlon?
Have you camped at the triathlon venue before the race? What has been your experience with camping while traveling for a triathlon?
Please share your thoughts and experiences with us in the Comments section below.
Comments: Please note that I review all comments before they are posted. You will be notified by email when your comment is approved. Even if you do not submit a comment, you may subscribe to be notified when a comment is published.
