VegasJen

I know I'm not the fastest or strongest cyclist out there, but I like to believe I can hold my own.

Yesterday was the Rage triathlon in Vegas, and I participated. I say participated because I have accepted the fact that I am far from competitive in the sport. Of the three events, I'm strongest in cycling, but even saying that is relative. As usual, I finished last in my age group, and that's OK.

But I was just comparing my times to some of the others and just for S&G, I looked at the overall winner and his times. The triathlon is out at Lake Mead and is quite hilly. Not my first tri out there so I knew what to expect. I was content with a 16.5mph average over that very hilly course. But the overall finisher averaged over 22mph on the same course! That is just astounding to me. I can't even maintain that on flat ground for more than maybe a mile, much less 25 miles. This guy did that on a super hilly course. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that level of athleticism.

I know I'm getting up there, and honestly, I was never built to be an athlete anyway. But at least in my little world, that is some serious next-level performance.

spelger

i think just finishing a tri would be a miracle for me so kudos to you.

was he in the same age bracket as you?

shelbyfv

Kudos for finishing. I couldn't run around the block.

tomato coupe

Last year's fastest finisher in the 24 hour Borrego Springs time trial averaged 22.5 mph, and racked up 532 miles.

VegasJen

Thanks. No, he was in the 30-34 bracket. Don't know his exact age, but about 20 years younger. I'm on the wrong side of 50.
Thanks. Nike has that saying "Just Do It" but it's kind of become passe. My saying is more fundamental than that, "just don't quit". No matter how tired you are, or how much your body hurts or how far behind you are, just don't quit.
Probably the same level of athleticism. This guy maintained that pace for 25 miles AFTER swimming 1500m in <30 minutes and BEFORE running 6.2 miles at a 6:30/mile pace. These are some seriously athletic people.

terrymorse 

FYI, here's the course profile. About 70 feet of climbing per mile. Pretty bumpy.

beng1

Until the age of 40 athletes pretty much can maintain their performance. Between the age of 40 and 80 a fit person can expect to lose half their ability to get oxygen from the air, sedentary people, or those who smoke etc. will lose even more ability than that. So enjoy whatever age and ability you have today as if you are over 40 you may not have it tomorrow. So I may have lost at least a third of my athletic ability over the last 21 or so years, but it is still a thrill to ride.
I don't know if I will get to ride a bike as much this year as I did last year, but I am interested to see what if any speed I have lost since last year when I get a chance to do some testing on a day in the near future with friendly weather. 16.5mph over any seriously hilly route sounds fine to me.

VegasJen

Exactly. That's why I was satisfied with my 16.5mph pace. Certainly not setting the world on fire, but given the course, I thought it was respectable. Frustratingly, despite the bike being my strongest event, I was still slower than the other three ladies in my age bracket. Not as strong as I thought.

Ubie

1st>last>DNF>DNS

According to the official rankings as listed above, you came in 2nd.

t2p

Where do the other three ladies live ?

I can contact my friend Tonya Harding

Eric F 

As an athlete of a similar age, I’ve accepted the fact that my only real competition is with myself. I just try to do the best I can do, on that day, and that’s enough. 20 years ago, I was a decent weekend-warrior road/crit racer, but no matter how much I train now, I will never reach that level again…and that’s okay.

A couple of weeks ago, I did a big gravel bike event. Appropriate for my fitness level and endurance capacity, I did the 78 mile course. By mile 70, I started getting passed by the leaders (pros) racing the 127 mile course. The winner finished 20 minutes ahead of me…and did 49 more miles. It was stunning to realize how fast those guys are.

If I recall, you’re fairly new to tri racing. Keep at it, and just keep trying to do better than you did last time. To me, triathlons sound awful. I’m a lousy runner (even when I’ve worked at it), and a worse swimmer - LOL.

Reynolds 

I heard about a guy who did tris in his late '70s. He always finished last, and was the most cheered and applauded by the crowd.

phughes

You're doing it. Keep doing it. Congrats!

VegasJen

As much as I appreciate the offer, it hardly seems worth it for bragging rights in an amateur event.
Indeed. The one thing I say about all this is that I am not a natural athlete. In fact, I do this in spite of my lack of natural athleticism. I know that had I tried this when I was younger, I would be better at it today, but it's unlikely I would ever have been competitive in any meaningful way.

Polaris OBark

The local guy here who wins triathlons is also an exceptionally talented astrophysics professor who is one of the leading figures is cosmology/theoretical physics and the origin of dark matter.

Some people really are better at everything.

One day I left the Garmin running on my bike when I drove home. Admittedly, I live on a windy mountain road, but I still got nowhere near this guy's KOM.

tomato coupe

I think the additional 23 hours on the bike is probably a bit more taxing than a 30 minute swim and 40 minute run.

rsbob 

I call that, “Hitting the genetic lottery”. The majority are not so blessed. Myself included. I used to do ‘fun runs’ and timed rides, but would never enter as a serious competition if I knew I didn’t stand a chance; so bravo for Jenn for her tenacity. It’s a rare soul that perseveres so courageously.

VegasJen

OK.
I appreciate that. I realize at my age, I'm only competing against myself. That doesn't make it any easier to swallow finishing in the very back of the back of the pack. But I do appreciate it none-the-less.

Vintage Schwinn

I have done several sprint triathlons in the Southeast where some of the winning ladies in the over 50 group smoked the under 25 ladies participating and had times very close to the podium finishers (winner, 2nd, 3rd..) of the ladies under 30 year old age bracket.

Often you have serious competitive former standout collegiate athletes in swimming, tennis, and track and field, etc that love competition, and then add to that by their fifities they are financially secure and/or retired so that they really go after it, and they have the free time and the determination and drive to do it on a championship level, especially the swimming and the running portions. A world class swimmer who also is a near world class runner will totally embarrass even the best in the world cyclist who isn't also at least well above average in both swimming and running. That is triathlon in a nutshell.
Cycling is the easiest portion to get to a level that will yield acceptable times in the cycling portion that will get you to a podium finish if you are already super strong in swimming and a super fast runner. Cyclists have a near zero chance of a podium finish (!st, 2nd, or 3rd) without also being very good swimmers.
A 58 year old female in top shape who is an ex-collegiate swimmer and superb level amateur tennis singles champion will be able to hold her own with most any average, physically fit under 30 age male who has never done a triathlon and who isn't a great swimmer.
These women are likely retired and their children are out of college, perhaps their youngest is a college senior..............it is likely that her children are possibly ex-collegiate athletes as well, as the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.........
Certainly some of the Southeastern sprint tri's attract some of the world class competitors, tuning up for the next week's, next month's Iron Man 70.3. or something with world class field..
Some such sprint events are recognized santioned points events and thus depending on the calendar scheduling, do get a near world class field and yet other such sprint events are on the calendar at the same time as bigger events elsewhere that draw those world class participants, leaving the average participants that aren't world class and that have corporate careers and everyday jobs but who are still otherwise fine fit athletes who love any chance at competing.

Tri-competitors are superior in all respects to cyclists! 3 is always greater than 1.
It is not as easy as it might seem.

You should be extremely proud of your accomplishment.
I seriously doubt that any young stud here on bikeforums that has never swam competively and never done any type of triathlon before, could go out and best your overall time by more than twenty seconds, no matter how great they are on the bicycle, if they were only given 1 week advance notice to train for it. There is no way that they could get good enough in the swimming and transitions within 7 days to do much better than you did.
Yeah, ol 24 year old Jim Bob Jenkins that works in the bike shop and claims that he's faster than lightning on his bike in all the A group rides, will say that he can't run and he can't swim decent enough to swim from one end of a pool to the other, much less than swimming in open water with swimmers who know what they are doing, kicking and really moving.......... ...............So there ya go......JIM BOB and the other cyclist doofuses that might be critical of your elapsed time of your cycling portion have no idea of what amount of effort that a tri entails, and I'm betting JIM BOB will be severely whipped from the swim portion, assuming he could finish it, will realize that being so winded as JIM BOB would be on his first attempt given only 7 days to prepare , would be so far off his better achievable times on the bike for that exact distance because of being pooped and whipped from the swim portion........then of course he's got to get off the bike and run as fast as his feet can fly in the run portion. Someone that has never done a triathlon just has no idea, as the transition times by someone like JIM BOB will be truly horrible as I guarantee that such a young male idiot with only 7 days to think and prepare, won't think and prepare properly, just thinking that he can beat any woman twice his age because he can fly like superman on the bike and make up the lost time there. Yeah, thats not gonna happen.............cy-KO Jim Bob, as good as he is on a bike is gonna get his clock cleaned by the swimmers who are really good runners too.

You gotta be at least good at 3 disciplines to stand on the podium with Gold Silver or Bronze.

A one trick pony, cyclist only, has NO CHANCE.

Triathlon competitors who finish should be very proud of such an accomplishment.

There are no lightweights in triathlon competitions. Sure, some fields may be stronger, but everyone that competes and completes the event is somebody in my book.

Perhaps a better perspective to take is much like how a very talented amateur tennis player or amateur golfer might look at it............you competed and you did the very best that you could on that particular day (on that course, etc)..........................perhaps you beat a previous score, or had a personal best in one of the three events, or your transition times have improved..........................The Biggest Takeaway is DID YA HAVE FUN?? and DO YA WANNA DO IT AGAIN??

VegasJen

Well, that was a lot to digest! There is certainly some validity to it. I'm quite sure I don't fit in your target example though.
This was my ninth overall and fourth long course triathlon. My transition times are still trash. I am getting better on the swim though. My first couple triathlons, I was literally one of the last people out of the water. Yesterday, I was actually middle of the pack. Towards the back, but still middle of it. And I'm quite sure I gave up as much as five minutes on the swim because of constantly veering off course thanks to foggy goggles. I'm notoriously cheap (I prefer frugal) but I'm willing to pay big bucks for goggles that won't fog up in the first 500 meters.
My run was pretty horrible, even worse than expected. I was never a runner, even in my younger days. Just not built for it. Add in age and arthritic hips and knees, and running is tantamount to self-flagellation. But I can generally maintain a sub-10minute pace just running a 5 or 10k. But after the swim and ride, then compound that with the hilly terrain and the stupid heat, and I'm disappointed, but not surprised, by a 15minute pace.
My pace on the bike did surprise me. As you stated, the bike tends to be the easiest event, and I agree with that. I've spent good money and time preparing for the bike portion and it really surprised me to be last in my group on the bike. Not surprising that someone else was faster, but definitely surprising they all were. Clearly, I'm not as strong there as I thought.
In the end though, I have no delusions I will ever stand on the podium (unless there are only two other entrants). It's always been about just finishing and improving where I can.
Did I have fun? Well, no, not really. Do I want to do it again? Ya. I do.

dennis336

I'm actually quite impressed at your time of 16.5 mph in a triathlon event. I would totally do a triathlon except for:
a) I barely know how to swim
b) I'm not really into running at all
c) the fact I'm pretty much just an average recreational cyclist

But, yeah, aside from those things, I could totally see myself competing in a triathlon

But, well done for competing and aspiring to keep attaining your personal best!!

CAT7RDR

Some of us in our 50's can no longer swim or run and cycling and hiking is the best I can still do.
Cheer up! If you can do all three to complete an event, I guarantee you the winners of such events have been training for years if not decades and also hit the genetic lottery.

GhostRider62

16.5mph on a hilly route is darned good, Congrats!

That route has a lot of very short jamming typing hills where someone with a super high anaerobic capacity and ability to recover would be able to do 22.5 mph, especially on a light aero bike, almost as if they have a hybrid motor where the battery recharges quickly on the descent

Koyote

Many, many years ago, in a road race out on Colorado's eastern plains, I got in a breakaway with a couple other riders in my category. We were hauling ass -- don't think I'd ever ridden so hard in my life at that point. Man, we were smokin'. Then, at some point, we heard this weird humming sound...And then the Pro-1-2 race leaders just flew by us, with their deep section rims slicing through the wind. One of the guys in my breakaway muttered, "So, that's what it looks like."

Bald Paul

Personally, I think your effort was amazing, considering I almost drown in a bathtub.