A Triathlete Looks at Forty
Sitting here today, just over six months from my 40th birthday (or my 51st, as my family likes to tease me with because “You are an old man!”), I’m attempting to map out my 16th multisport season. My fifteenth ended unceremoniously with a short meat wagon ride from the mile 9 run aid station at Lake Placid to the medical tent. A few days after that we learned that, because I am a moron, my hamstring had finished a job that my stubbornness had started, fracturing my pelvis apart where I’d put a stress reaction from riding the wrong saddle for months.
It has been a much longer road of recovery this time around. My longest run in six months is a mile. I am only now getting comfortable enough to ride again on the bike, with my longest time in the saddle a whopping 50 minutes. The bulk of my current workout load is using a Concept2 ERG at the local YMCA, occasionally hopping in the pool, uphill touring/SkiMo racing prep, and alpine skiing.

In other words: it’s an extremely frustrating reminder that I don’t bounce back as quickly as I once did. And that if I’m going to have a shot at gluing together something that resembles an athletic year, I’ll need to approach things a bit differently. Here’s just a few of the changes I am looking at for this year.
Race More: More Types of Events, More Often
Yes, I understand that this seems counterintuitive, especially for someone who is coming off the injured list. But it boils down to something like this: I really enjoy toeing a starting line, even when my best on that day might wind up being an absolutely mediocre result. And I find that, if I do a bunch of different things, I’ll stack something together that pieces together for a good result at the big event of the year.

So as we go through the early part of the year, I’m looking at a steady diet of virtual racing on the bike, as well as training for the local mountain’s Uphill Race Series to take part in. And maybe a masters swim meet to toss in there as well. As we turn towards spring, then I might be able to get some running together and train for a longer cycling event before pivoting into some triathlon racing over the summer. Mix in some golf competitions and that’s a pretty good year of getting the adrenaline pumping.
Prioritize Recovery
If you’re going to race that much, stress management is mission critical. That means, well, building some proper recovery into the mix, too. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized just how key sleep is; trying to do workouts on four hours of sleep does nobody any good outside of just building exhaustion debt.
It brings me back to another key point I’ve written about before: stress is stress. Your body doesn’t particularly care whether stress is coming from work, life, or athletics; it needs to be recovered from and built into whatever training program you have. Does work or life stress build fitness? No. But it does rob you of precious recovery time. It’s why when work gets busy, I prioritize shorter, higher intensity sessions. First, they’re achievable given the time window available. Second, it’s just a bang for buck measure. (See: indoor e-bike racing is a favorite “shit, I only have 50 minutes to ride, what should I do?” replacement).
I run on enough sleep deprivation as it is, what with our current weekend schedules in the house. If I get the opportunity to get an extra 30 minutes in bed, I’m going to take it.
Getting Creative in Workout Options
I feel like my third job in life is chauffeur to the child’s endless stream of activities. There’s something each and every day of the week, with actual activity length ranging from 60 minutes to the entire day. It ultimately means that I have to think a bit on my feet in terms of what might get accomplished during that time.
For two of those days, that’s primarily work time; the activity is too short, and the Internet is high quality for me to research and write articles. For two others, that’s prime gym time. Traditionally, I’ve run on the treadmill for some quality, but with my limited running to date, it’s been the ERG machine and lifting weights with a focus on mobility. One day is downhill skiing, as I’m serving as a chaperone for the program (look, SafeSport training finally DID pay off).
And then there’s the weekend, the traditional home of the long run and long bike. Except, we’re on the road to the mountain by 6:45 every weekend, and we’re there all day. So it’s time to earn my turns in the morning, dropping the kiddo off to her ski racing program and try to squeeze as many bottom-to-top-and-back laps as I can in with my SkiMo set-up. Snow has been extremely sticky this year, so speed is down, so I’m only getting two laps in during the morning instead of my normal attempt for three.

It’s good training. Is it “perfect” for my long course triathlon plans? No. But it’s perfect for what I can accomplish.
Managing Expectations
I’m not ready to hang up my competitive hat. When I toe a starting line I want to beat everybody I can. But I also know that, well, Father Time is undefeated. And I’m also not a 28 year old working in a run shop training for 15 hours a week anymore.
PRs are much fewer and further between these days. And my days of trying for an IM Worlds slot are likely behind me. But I’d like to still glue together one decent full before I decide to stop doing them (my track record suggests that this won’t ever happen, but here we are). And I’ve got other events I want to tackle, like the upcoming race series at Stratton, or this year’s B2VT full distance ride.
In the words of the late Toby Keith: “Now my body says, ‘You can’t do this boy’ / But my pride says “Oh yes, you can…I ain’t as good as I once was, but I’m as good once / As I ever was.”
Now to just figure out what that once will be.
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10 more replies
Ryan, thanks for sharing your thoughts and approach to meeting the very real urge to “compete”. I can appreciate the challenges you describe but would suggest there are still attainable stretch performances and results well into your 40’s.
It’s bad enough you kick my butt every time we ride @Yutaka_Sonik. Now you’re just trolling @rrheisler to “do better” quit inspiring us haha
I’m not gonna get close to 10 hour IM shape again. And that’s OK.
But I’ve got a few other things to chase.
Don’t sell yourself short! I bet you can - I bet you could break 10.
Oh, I’d sell myself VERY short on that one. I’d like to, you know, start with finishing one again.
But, say, riding B2VT fast? Or really diving headfirst into some SkiMo racing? That I might get behind…and surprise myself with.
Not at all! It takes a lot of confidence and trust to be open about one’s intentions / goals and challenges and I respect that a lot - Ryan says there is still a competitive desire and I think I know what that feels like, and that could be where what I say doesn’t come across right. I think there is common ground in wanting to deliver one’s physical best, the debate revolves, as always, what role the limiters play in expressing that performance…Of life’s challenges - I’d say, don’t be discouraged by age - it is probably the least consequential (until you’re like a dinosaur of course).
As someone who is looking back at 40…some 16+ years ago…40 is pretty good. Obviously, your hip stress fracture needs attention, including future prevention of stress reactions. Even at 56+, I still manage to stand on the occasional local podium OA. Bigger races tends to be limited to AG, though.
Everyone is different, of course. But, I didn’t see much of a decline in recovery until after 55, and frankly I still go pretty damn hard multiple times a week. This year is the first time I’ve acknowledged a slight increase in recovery need (mostly as a conservative response to my own stress fracture).
Sorry, but your athletic potential has barely started to decline at 40 and you almost definitely came nowhere near reaching it anyway. Age is not your limiter.
lots of sage advice and terrific comments in there but…you must believe that you really can do anything that you set your mind and body to accomplish-
if it’s a sub 10 hr race, you absolutely can do it!
if it’s something else, great!
40?? OMG, not even close to your best days…nope…no chance…
(kid obligations are a fun time of your life-don’t miss out on those)
and world’s slots get easier as you age, trust me-took me years to qualify-but aging up was a key
This 40-44 were my best placing “OA”.
I probably felt the same at 40…and was just as wrong. Life begins at 40. 40 is the new 30?
I forget some of y’all started late. My kids were grown by 40. My youngest moved out the year I was 39… She’s moved home twice and back out since then… But, that’s not the point.


I ran my fastest mile race at age 47-
5:23
and some of my fastest sprint tris were in my 50’s
at age 55, I went 5:08 in a HIM, and made worlds
your best is yet to come as you will eclipse these easily
My first was born (and died) when I was 30. We had Ivy at 31.
Between drive time and activity time itself, I’ll spend 28 hours a week at her stuff.
You’re a good man, Ryan. Sorry to hear about the loss… My wife is a Nicu nurse, or was, and hearing about babies not able to grow up to adulthood is usually a very sad story.
A Nine-year-old girl will keep you young at heart for many years
and then you’ll become a very overprotective father – ha
Yes-prioritize recovery and do structured training in appropriate time chunks
Looking forward to the next article—
*(I checked athlinks out-we both did Quassy HIM in 2014-you beat me by 20 min-5:42 over 6:02, but that race offered the ‘full revolution’ which I did a few years later-THAT was a great pair of races…)
Appreciate your thoughts. 40 was a tough age in some ways. Really meaningful in retrospect but tough at the time. But 40 is also just getting going in other ways.
I’m genuinely enjoying this aged-up phase of competitive life. I didn’t think that would happen when I was 40. The weight of responsibility made it hard to see.
Staying fit and healthy, regardless of how, also simply gives us more options. Beyond a few races, I’m seriously looking forward to doing my first Grand Canyon R2R this year.
On a slightly different tack, I’ve found it feels better to count my age in Base16. Fewer expectations and assumptions. I turn 3C this year.
Hopefully you get back to IMLP. I’ll be doing my fourth time there and my bookcase would treasure one more rock.