Becoming a Fast Age-Grouper: Work It!

This past spring I won the Master’s division of a half marathon and another competitor in a similar age group asked how I was able to run a strong race. I looked at her sheepishly and replied that I was not normal. I trained. A lot. After I filled her in with what my training consisted of she suddenly had a huge smile on her face and thanked me. She felt much better about her performance in the context of her training.

I believe there are two paths to being a fast age-grouper. Path one is you are genetically gifted (an outlier) with a successful high school or college career in some type of endurance sport (lots of years of training before taking up triathlon). These are the people that tend to qualify for Kona during their first IM or win their age groups right away at local races. They don’t need to train a ton, they just need some specific work. They are the folks training 10-12 hours a week and performing great.

The second path happens to be my path. I have few genetic gifts and little to no background in swimming, biking and running. What I do have is the time, discipline and the interest in doing the work. What does the work look like?

• A minimum of two hours a day of aerobic training. Usually 4-5 days per week of each sport.
• No zeros. I rarely take a day off but I do have “recovery” days of easy spinning and/or easy swimming.
• A minimum of one hour a week of strength training (treatment for sarcopenia).
• Eight hours of sleep per day.
• A healthy diet with a focus on quality protein, veggies and fruit.
• A massage per week during the last eight weeks of training before my A race.
• An ART session per week (preventative) during my last eight weeks of training before my A race.

In business when something is too good to be true, I walk away. I have found the same rules apply to my training. There are no get rich quick or get fit quick secrets. If you don’t have the genetic gifts, you can bridge to the top of your age group by doing the work. The path to the top is not for everyone, but if you choose it and pay attention, the lessons come fast and furiously.