Gallery
What older athletes need to consider?
Loss of flexibility of the shoulders.
Remedy
Drop thumb just before entry and glide hand into the water.
Keep hand relaxed but straight avoid it being cup like.
Mind
Its in the mind many over 40’s win running races, someone forgot to tell them that they were 40, an age that was considered over the hill.
Many athletes look forward to their next 5 year age group.
8-10 year improvements for novices new to sport.
For most especially Triathletes can take 8-10 years to improve because you have 3 sports to learn new skills develop muscles and different fitness levels & stamina.
Single sport athletes like experienced marathon runners taking up cycling soon improve as they already have good cardiovascular fitness.
For some it may take longer or expect to plateau especially after 65 years of age.
Think young not old.
Cyclist use about 60% of strength during a 25 mile (40km) cycle time trial.
Runners use about 20% of their leg muscle strength to run 10km to 16km.
Hence runners have small muscles and cyclist have bigger muscles.
This is all relative as if you got up close to a Tour de France rider you will be surprised how small they actually are.
I once met Jan Ulrich in real life Tour de France winner was surprised how small he was although taller and average.
Runners who turn to cyclist have great developed heart & lungs and have done lost of long slow training miles.
There mistake is they don’t think they need to have many calories during the bike, this results in a sub par performance run during the triathlon.
The cycle section is a good time to take in energy drinks and gels and bars during races longer than Olympic distance.
These same runners have to work at high leg out put resulting in using up large amounts of carbohydrates which depletes glycogen fast in the working muscles.
Calorie intake should be based on how many calories were consumed before breakfast
Size of the athlete, toughness of the course, weather conditions (more when colder for small athletes) and speed.
If running was your main sport?
Neglect you main sport (running) skip the long runs & do long cycle rides instead.
Focus on your weaker (newer events swim & bike) The cardiovascular fitness form 2 extra sports will more than compensate for less time spent running.
Run steady after cycling, this doubles up as a steady run and a back to back brick session.
Substitute a 90 minute run with a 2-2.5 hour bike.
Many triathletes race successfully on low mileage but total training time remains the same.
The older athlete
Bone density
Bone strength declines during our 60-70’s – Weight bearing weight training can help reduce the decline.
Heart.