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Teeny, Teeny, Tiny Tris

Old 08-23-21, 05:02 PM
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gobicycling
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Teeny, Teeny, Tiny Tris

In my low 80's, one of my challenging activities is teeny, teeny, tiny tris. This is a 45 minute swim, about a 1.5 mile walk (can't run much any more), and a 10 mile ride, all in the same morning. This against a backdrop of a very, very rare orphan lung disease "Dendriform Pulmonary Ossification" - which literally means bones in the lungs in a tree-like branching pattern, and affects O2 capacity. I enjoy doing these teeny tris, as I love swimming, walking and cycling. I know there are those of you who do actual tris, but this is my way of staying in the game!

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Old 08-24-21, 07:53 PM
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Some days, when I'm really 'on my game', I have a hike+bike routine. A 2.2 mile hike (400' elevation change) with a bike ride the same day.

I admire the tri ethic.
Keep it up.
In your 80s you've got the formula that works for you.
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Old 08-24-21, 09:06 PM
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Recovery time tends to get longer and longer! I have to keep that in mind. The haze and smoke and heat has made this difficult this year
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Old 08-25-21, 05:41 AM
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Sounds like a fun way to spend the morning. Recruit some friends, y'all can sit around with a beer after.
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Old 08-25-21, 06:17 AM
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You have given me some great ideas to try. Thanks for the motivation and here's hoping you do this well into your 90's.
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Old 08-25-21, 10:59 AM
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Originally Posted by Helderberg
You have given me some great ideas to try. Thanks for the motivation and here's hoping you do this well into your 90's.
You are most welcome. Please let me know what you do and how it goes.
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Old 08-25-21, 11:01 AM
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Originally Posted by shelbyfv
Sounds like a fun way to spend the morning. Recruit some friends, y'all can sit around with a beer after.
Good idea but I am a solo rider. And I don't drink beer. So, maybe someone else can use your ideas.
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Old 08-25-21, 11:15 AM
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Originally Posted by gobicycling
In my low 80's, one of my challenging activities is teeny, teeny, tiny tris. This is a 45 minute swim, about a 1.5 mile walk (can't run much any more), and a 10 mile ride ...
Pre-injuries, I used to often do an hour of hard running to and from the gym, cycling 40mi round-trip to the ocean, then swimming hard (bodysurfing) swimming for a handful of hours. Wasn't for time, and certainly wasn't racing. But those days were good exercise days. Hard, and generally the following day or two would entail easing-up on the cycling and running until recovered. That was back in the day when all of the training buddies in our group dreamed of doing the Western States 100 miler, the Leadville 100, ...

No can do, anymore. I do light cycling, avoiding all the hills I can. I walk a little. I do strength and cardio exercise at the gym. And I do as much stretching as I can at home. Nobody's "tri" regimen, but it's what I can do. Of course, getting passed by nine year old kids takes a bit of swallowing ... though I can cope well enough.

I envy those who've still got it to go, after all these years.

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Old 08-25-21, 11:21 AM
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Whenever I hear somebody talking about 'modest' athletic achievements, I like to compare them to the rest of the world population. For instance, you only swam for 45 minutes, walked for 1.5 mi and biked for 10 mi - I promise you this is 45 minutes, 1.5 miles and 10 miles further than 90 percent of the people in the world.

Now compare your achievement to the subset of the population who are 80 years or older, and you are in the running for World Champion! Awesome job, and keep it up!
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Old 08-25-21, 11:43 AM
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Originally Posted by ClydeClydeson
Whenever I hear somebody talking about 'modest' athletic achievements, I like to compare them to the rest of the world population. For instance, you only swam for 45 minutes, walked for 1.5 mi and biked for 10 mi - I promise you this is 45 minutes, 1.5 miles and 10 miles further than 90 percent of the people in the world.

Now compare your achievement to the subset of the population who are 80 years or older, and you are in the running for World Champion! Awesome job, and keep it up!
Thank you, that is very nice. I was feeling a bit low, and you boosted me. There is a Facebook group for bicyclists 80 years and older who do amazing things. I don't belong to that, as I am the moderator of a group 65 plus to 100, and also I can't keep up with these other guys in the 80 plus group. I just do my thing, and I'm very glad that I can do it. The alternative is not so great.
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Old 08-25-21, 12:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Clyde1820
Pre-injuries, I used to often do an hour of hard running to and from the gym, cycling 40mi round-trip to the ocean, then swimming hard (bodysurfing) for a handful of hours. Wasn't for time, and certainly wasn't racing. But those days were good exercise days. Hard, and generally the following day or two would entail easing-up on the cycling and running until recovered. That was back in the day when all of the training buddies in our group dreamed of doing the Western States 100 miler, the Leadville 100, ...

No can do, anymore. I do light cycling, avoiding all the hills I can. I walk a little. I do strength and cardio exercise at the gym. And I do as much stretching as I can at home. Nobody's "tri" regimen, but it's what I can do. Of course, getting passed by nine year old kids takes a bit of swallowing ... though I can cope well enough.

I envy those who've still got it to go, after all these years.
I also do a tremendous amount of weight lifting, stretching and other resistance exercises. The other day I did 85 push-ups in 3 minutes, including a couple of rest stops. Stretching and resistance exercises are extremely important as one gets older.

Last edited by gobicycling; 08-25-21 at 12:14 PM.
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Old 08-31-21, 08:25 AM
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right-on the the OP! go get 'em kid! :-) I like the combination of biking, hiking & swimming, but not as a competitive race
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Old 08-31-21, 09:11 AM
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Sounds great if your body can take it. I like a light morning bike ride ~10 miles, and walk nine holes of golf in the afternoon. Only down side is sometimes get nasty cramps in legs in the evening. Golf is harder on the body than I thought, as I discovered after trying it this year after a 25 year hiatis! Cycling is pretty easy on the old body if you pace yourself.
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Old 09-21-21, 02:40 PM
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Originally Posted by gobicycling
The other day I did 85 push-ups in 3 minutes
Thats hard to believe!
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Old 09-22-21, 01:19 AM
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I've gone for a 5-7 mile jog and, later, a 40 mile bike ride in the same day. And soaked in a hot bath with Epsom salts when I got home.

That's as close to a triathlon as I plan to get.
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Old 09-23-21, 10:48 AM
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Typical routine for me is to walk 18 holes of golf in the morning, grab lunch and then a couple days a week ride 40-60 miles in the afternoon. Does taking a shower first thing count as a Tri for a 65+??
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Old 10-02-21, 10:57 AM
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Originally Posted by jppe
Does taking a shower first thing count as a Tri for a 65+??
No, not even for 80+. Nor for a bath either.


Swimming was never big for (adult me) as access to a pool was problematic. I have never lived close enough to a lake and beachside was 45 years ago. As a kid, here was a huge pool at a National Guard facility open to vets and their families for Summer fun. We went there often. Too many kids don’t have access to swimming anymore.
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Old 10-05-21, 07:22 AM
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Originally Posted by epnnf
Thats hard to believe!
Well, these were definitely not 85 perfect form push-ups. There's a video on YouTube of a friend of mine doing 82 more perfect push-ups in 5 minutes. It's there to watch if you want the link. He's 82 years old. He can also do a 7 minute plank. And that's recorded also on YouTube. He is a retired MD, and a high school classmate . One of these days I'll get around to recording my own. I can do a 4 minute plank, and with some work maybe five or six. These are typical elbow planks not straight arm planks.

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Old 10-05-21, 08:39 AM
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gobicycling I swam 40-45 minutes a morning in my 20s and that's quite an expenditure! The fact that you then walk and ride in the same morning with your challenges is admirable and inspirational. go, Go, GO!
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Old 10-05-21, 11:33 PM
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Originally Posted by gobicycling
Good idea but I am a solo rider. And I don't drink beer. So, maybe someone else can use your ideas.
Never too late to start . . . unless the medics suggest otherwise . .
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Old 10-06-21, 06:41 AM
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Originally Posted by BobbyG
gobicycling I swam 40-45 minutes a morning in my 20s and that's quite an expenditure! The fact that you then walk and ride in the same morning with your challenges is admirable and inspirational. go, Go, GO!
People don't realize that swimming takes a whole different set of muscles and aerobic endurance. I've seen folks who were fit from bicycling and or running get entirely pooped out the first time they tried to swim a lap in the pool.
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Old 10-06-21, 07:06 AM
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Originally Posted by gobicycling
People don't realize that swimming takes a whole different set of muscles and aerobic endurance. I've seen folks who were fit from bicycling and or running get entirely pooped out the first time they tried to swim a lap in the pool.
Yes! I went to do laps in the pool a year after I stopped swimming daily and had begun riding. My arms quit after two lengths and I couldn't climb out with the ladder. I had to ask the life guard for help. Later after I had been riding daily for a few years we had a weekly summer pool date with the grand kids and I was able to work up to 8 lengths, but the focus was teaching them to swim and to have fun in the pool.
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Old 10-06-21, 08:46 AM
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Originally Posted by gobicycling
People don't realize that swimming takes a whole different set of muscles and aerobic endurance. I've seen folks who were fit from bicycling and or running get entirely pooped out the first time they tried to swim a lap in the pool.
Swimming is a very technical sport. A person can have muscles and endurance and still perform poorly in the pool. I can see in the swimming pool some people struggling and barely moving forward, others just glide seemingly effortlessly lap after lap.

These days it is so much easier to improve the technique with all those instructional videos on the YouTube. I have learned to swim in my school days, however, the swimming technique has evolved considerably over the years, noticeably in freestyle/crawl stroke. When I have returned to the pool a few years ago and watched online videos I have discovered the miracle of "high elbow", s-curve, rotation, the importance of relaxation, control, synchronization. My personal observation is that aerobic endurance transfers well between swimming, biking and running.
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Old 10-06-21, 09:21 AM
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Originally Posted by rowerek
Swimming is a very technical sport. A person can have muscles and endurance and still perform poorly in the pool. I can see in the swimming pool some people struggling and barely moving forward, others just glide seemingly effortlessly lap after lap.

These days it is so much easier to improve the technique with all those instructional videos on the YouTube. I have learned to swim in my school days, however, the swimming technique has evolved considerably over the years, noticeably in freestyle/crawl stroke. When I have returned to the pool a few years ago and watched online videos I have discovered the miracle of "high elbow", s-curve, rotation, the importance of relaxation, control, synchronization. My personal observation is that aerobic endurance transfers well between swimming, biking and running.
Yes, I see those people gliding across the pool in seven strokes. It takes me a lot more. I'm not a great swimmer. I didn't really learn at all until I was in my late 50s early 60s. But I do get compliments on my stroke. I'm glad you find that your endurance transfers between bicycling swimming and running. I try to do full modal workouts with resistance, stretching, swimming, bicycling, walking, and nutrition. Works for me. Thanks for the Post.

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