I started swimming year-round at the age of seven. Thirty-two years later, I am still training year-round. In each of those 32 years, there has always been something to target and train for. Of course, training at age 39 looks vastly different than training in my teens and twenties. But different doesn’t mean worse. It is simply adjusting training with age to better optimize training stimuli and maximize responses to training. Here are seven ways that my training has changed as a middle-aged endurance athlete:
1. As a middle-aged endurance athlete, I have a bigger focus on healthy and adequate nutrition.
Healthy and adequate nutrition should have been a focus from the beginning, but hindsight is 20/20! I cringe when I think about what I ate in high school and college. Subsisting on cereal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, candy, ice cream, oh my! I had no clue what a healthy diet should look like for an athlete. I only knew that I ate when I was hungry and reached for whatever looked good and was available at the time.
I have a much greater understanding of how to properly fuel to support my training. But on the bigger picture of nutrition, I realize that choosing largely healthy foods can help prevent or reduce the risk of things such as cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and cancers. Exercise goes a long way in helping with this, but it does not give us a free pass to eat whatever we want – particularly as we age. I do get frustrated with coaches who glorify eating unhealthy foods and encourage athletes to pound burgers, pizza, fast food, and the like. While all of these things can be part of someone’s diet – I don’t believe it’s responsible to actively encourage athletes to eat these foods to excess. Every athlete has unique family history and may be at increased risk for certain diseases that require a careful approach to nutrition and fueling.
2. Compared to my teens and twenties, my training volume as a middle-aged endurance athlete has decreased.
With decades of endurance training under my belt, I don’t need to do as much volume to perform at my best. I do understand the physiology of detraining, and I certainly wouldn’t be able to get away with being sedentary and then racing a marathon. However, training 25 hours a week would be both a logistical nightmare as well as unnecessary. I now average 10 – 12 hours per week of training and find that this is my ‘sweet spot’ with regards to a volume that I can handle week in and week out without illness or injury.
In coaching Team Performance Project, we talk a lot about finding ‘happy mileage’ and ‘sweet spots’ for volume. This changes over time and will also change based on life circumstances. The only thing that really matters is that you find a volume that A) works for you, and B) adequately prepares you for the event you are training for. Part B is where it can be difficult for an individual athlete to know if they are doing enough. It also an area that I think athletes can gain the most benefit from having a coach – to make these decisions together and adjust as needed.
3. As a middle-aged endurance athlete, I do a lot more mobility & strength training
Gone are the days of rolling out of bed with no warmup and doing a high intensity training session! My body needs to be primed ahead of doing a training session with daily mobility to target my long history of previous injuries. Consistent strength training helps to reduce the impact of sarcopenia over time, helps to maintain and limit my reduction in Vo2 max as I age, and helps limit muscular fatigue in later stages of endurance races.
4. As a middle-aged endurance athlete, I focus more on leading a healthy lifestyle & longevity vs. short term performance gains.
In high school and college, all I cared about was the next big swim meet. I would do whatever it took to perform at my best in a few months time. I had no knowledge that ignoring my overall health and wellness would have a long-term negative impact on my health. As a middle-aged endurance athlete, I am able to make better decisions in the short term with a larger long term emphasis on my health. Training is only one small piece of the puzzle. There is nutrition, rest and recovery, mental wellness, and so much more!
5. To stay healthy as a middle-aged endurance athlete, I rely more on team support from my primary care provider, sports medicine doctor, physical therapist and coaches.
I used to avoid doctors because I feared that they would restrict my training. I now have a better understanding of how a team of experts fit together to support my life as an athlete. I have enormous privilege in having access to many health professionals.
My primary care doctor provides an annual checkup and bloodwork. My sports medicine doctor provides diagnoses when injuries arise and can help create a plan for healing. Physical therapists provide expertise in prescribing rehab exercises and ongoing therapies to heal from injuries and reduce the risk of follow up injuries.
6. I focus more on what I need in training vs. what someone else is doing.
This has by far made the most impact on my longevity as an endurance athlete! I used to be very concerned with how others were training and racing. But after doing a Master’s and PhD in Exercise Science I learned how unique human physiology really is. During human anatomy lab our professor pointed out differences in blood vessels, organs, nerves… no two people were the same! In coaching, I started noticing how no two athletes responded the same to a given training session. All of these experiences gave me the confidence to only focus on what I needed in training – not what others were doing.
7. As a middle-aged endurance athlete, I Include a greater variety of training.
In my youth, I could simply swim and swim and swim some more and continue getting better. Specificity is a very important training principle after all! However, knowing that I am prone to injury and have been training for 32 years – I need to carefully plan this specificity. There are times of the year that include much more cross training such as hiking, cycling, swimming, strength training, paddling, and more! As an event gets closer, I include a period of specific work to prepare for that event. When looked at over an entire year, I include much more variety in my training vs. when I only swam.
Are you a middle-aged endurance athlete? I would love to hear about how your training may have changed and what you do to stay healthy, active, and perform at your best.