My first chlorestorol check came back high.
I questioned it and it was retested, came back a bit high but significantly lower.
I read that the NHS has backed away from it’s previous policy on statins for treatment - my mum got taken off them so maybe it’s true.
Whatever the reality, think it has to be very high to merit drug treatment.
I had another check more recently and it didn’t even get mentioned. I was borderline for blood sugar but the GP said not to worry so I haven’t. 
Ive done the same with patient access this week (as noted above you have to get ypuir GP to authorise it) and just seen my high cholesterol results (refered to as “abnormal” which doesn’t sound great) from a blood test a couple of weeks ago (plus lots of other things which were all ok). Now need to cut out the pies… but I love pies.
Only a few weeks left until I join the exclusive lounge. Kind of grappling with what this means for Tri.
Did a local sprint tri this morning which I last did 2 years ago. It was exactly the same course. In 2021 did 65 minutes and came 2nd. Today 68 minutes and came 7th. So, slowing down. And most of the time lost on the run.
Also I have been tremendously fortunate never to have had any injuries, but this last few months there is something a bit wrong with my left knee. It’s only a niggle, but it seems linked to run volume. So I have backed right off.
And all the fast guys now seem to have amazing race bikes with custom cockpits, di2, rear disc etc while I’m still racing on a P2 I built up for £1500 well over a decade ago with bits from eBay. I could buy a £8K bike but Mrs would flay me, and also… what’s the point really, if I’m just going to pootle round a few local sprints each year. May as well stick with the museum piece.
Just don’t quite know which way to jump. I enjoy running, cycling and swimming. Competition is a bit of a kick, but is not the be all and end all for me at all. I did the team GB AG thing in my 30s and have no strong itch to do it again. Kona and Nice I think are out of reach if this knee is going to start causing problems. The long game is that I want to be fit, healthy and mobile for as long as possible, maybe it sounds daft but I’m thinking there’s a chance of living to 100+ in which case this is only the halfway mark, and I don’t want to bugger up any of the moving parts more than necessary.
Anyway, going to give it some thought.
Did you guys go through anything similar?
100%. The last few years have seen me move from training for events, to now, I just want to be physically active and healthy. As I’ve just written on the bike packing thread, at 52, I’m starting to notice a real decline in my body conditioning. My body is very weak and for my future health I really need to address this. I’ll need to do Pilates or something similar, but maybe some circuit training?
Best sprint 1;01 decades ago
Last year 1:17 at 53
If I do it this year I’d be happy with the same I’m fitter and slightly lighter but carrying more muscle especially in upper body.
A 1:08 at very nearly 50 and top ten is cause for celebration not concern ?! No?!
We are all different but my huge slow down year was 52/53.
Some of my run times in particular look like typos from 2019, yet I’ve held consistent for the last 18 months.
It’s possible to train lots race lots and remain healthy In later life with out destroying or wearing out body parts it probably just needs a little more thought and a touch more test at times.
Of course at the bottom of the 50-55 age group you’ll do a full Ironman just to show off !
No. I’m genuinely grateful for whatever I can do. What I don’t know is if that’s because of my history or just my personality. I suspect it’s probably down to my mum. As a small child in hospital feeling sorry for myself she’d be having none of it. She’d point around the ward at other kids in an apparent far worse position and ask me if I’d like to swap with them. Erm, no, I just want some sympathy 
yeah, that seems like a good perspective. I love this site but find it easy to get caught up in a bit of a Peter Pan mentality sometimes with the amazing stuff people do. Think maybe embracing the natural slowdown is the way forward for me 
rather than trying new and expensive/risky ways to delay it 
I was never fast to begin with
Feeling like (as I approach 53) that I am catching up with average
Yep, combo of all the spine ops and the age thing, I just haven’t had the same turn of speed since lockdown. It was like a perfect storm of shitness.
I’m glad I have the background of SBR because it really does form a great pillar to have a go at other endurance type things. Do what makes you happy, keep moving and it’s OK to be an ex triathlete.
Well seeing as I didn’t do my 1st tri until I was 50, kind of. I gave it full beans competing until I was 60 but then the mojo tailed off and becoming a TO took over. I was happy with a 1:10 sprint PB and a sub-12 IM at 54 which for a near 100kg ex-prop forward I’ll take any day.
Then the AF kicked in when I was 65 and just keeping any level of fitness and health is now my physical goal. No longer run or bike so the rower and skier get my attention.
I look back and keep saying, the older I get the better I was.
The biggest change for me was not needing to prove anything to myself any more - that happened in my early 40s.
Since then, over 10 years ago, I’ve been much more focused on looking for interesting challenges. Since swimming round the Scilly Isles in 2015 those have all been on the bike, largely down to parenting constraints.
The only real deterioration in performance I’ve noticed has been over the past year since having several respiratory problems as I’ve described elsewhere.
Now that those are (hopefully) resolved, I’m getting faster again but will take some time to see how much I get back. I’ve definitely got a lot less top end than last spring but stamina seems decent.
I guess I’ll be a lot clearer if and when I do my trip round Wales 
I could write an essay on this, maybe for the existential thread, but I think the summary is, I would still love to race competitively, but the struggle is the high intensity training to achieve the top end in races. Really enjoying swim, bike, run but when faced with a choice of steady v. hard, too often steady wins. And as others have mentioned I should probably be doing some strength work but again, would rather go swim, bike, run.
After LCW, had a plan to concentrate on some speed, try to get my 5k time down again. But I haven’t done a single run above 5k pace, not going to get faster unless I run faster! So what’s next? Thinking of scratching the Tenby itch next year before IM completely disappears from the UK, and I finally confine my TT bike permanently to the turbo.
Ha ha - my TT bike hasn’t been off the turbo since IMUK in 2012
Hmm, guy who puts out 4.5W/KG up Bologna concerned about aging shocker 
I wouldn’t base things around a sprint over a couple years when you are carrying a niggle. You might slow down but I doubt it’ll be much. Although I’ve noticed it slightly on my running I suspect that’s as much because I don’t really have any particularly training plan.
Plenty of people still going well at 50, even on here there’s some bloody good sandbaggers! TC wins ultra’s, Chickenboy is flying, Buzz & Doon are sharks and others are still completing long ultra’s. And despite what he might say, Mungo’s sessions utterly terrify me! Apologies for the ones I’ve missed.
You don’t really need a mega bike (and Di2 can be a PITA), and TBH if you are quite savvy you could probably build something up that’s flasher than your P2 for a lot less than £8k. Racing on the Propel in the last year or so has actually taken the pressure off, and if you are comfortable, can get low and save something for the run you can still be competitive. Trying not to humblebrag but I’ve been well pleased with the runs at Maastricht, StG & Elsinore in the last year so. No real run focus except a hard parkrun and still doing 1:35’s. Ok, couple of minutes slower than a few years ago but I wasn’t trying to do ultra’s etc. at the same time.
It’s strange but I absolutely torture myself in the days before a race and wonder why I bother, then the minute I get in the start pen the adrenaline starts to kick in (assuming it’s not cold, wet & miserable 
).
I’m sure the knee will settle down, but might be worth seeing a medical professional
I suspect most of us go through phases of why we bother when we’re tired and stressed etc., but equally I suspect exercising is an outlet for all of us as well.
Not sure I really want to live to 100 unless I’m one of these superagers, but certainly have no plans of going for good few years yet as long as I can avoid you lot on a Thursday this winter!
Yep, went less competitive on tri and started doing much more weight training, wakeboarding, motocross, freestyle snowboarding, bmx, skate boarding etc.! Would seriously consider competitive eating if the opportunity arose, although I think I could actually tuck more away when I was rake-thin.
Only really ‘compete’ with teenage daughter at the sports stuff now, as not many people my age doing much of that stuff except the snowboarding. The weight training means I still seem to bounce on hard landings, plus I do try to pad up more than I used to. Alternative seems to be to go ultra distance and just pootle along for ages at steady speed, but most of the successful oldies I see doing that eat so little fun stuff, and I am just not ready for that.
Im 50 next year, i need to scratch Tenby off the list (i have a covid voucher) and also want adventures, LEJOG sounds like something to do but i , like @Cobbie and @Poet , have issues with my chest but mine are getting worse rather than improving. Fingers crossed they get sorted out so i can get on with stuff for my 50th and can get back to beer and whisky sooner.
No, similar to @Bob , always been very happy that I’ve reached these ages (6 months away from being a sexagenarian). Maybe it’s cos my first tri was at 43 who knows. Maybe it’s cos I mull over other things, other areas of my life.
I think that I’ve said it before on here, I had a mate who never got past 16, and others 20, and also watched the odd person I know, my age or younger, go before they got to anywhere near the age that I am. Because of that I really value life, and every birthday is a major celebration that I’m lucky, that I got there fit and healthy.
When I had to go to A&E for the dog bite double op in April, the staff were constatntly shocked that I was 59 and not on any medication. To be honest, I was shocked that they were shocked. I was also shocked that being on medication perhaps reflects our society who knows. It’s not going to stop me dying of a heart attack I know, or getting knocked off my bike, but I’m here, I’m lucky. Also as I only know of a few runners locally, my peer group consists of hmmmmmm, shall we say quite large people, male and female. Perhaps again, I’m lucky that I like the martyrdom of training out in all weathers…hmmm Clive don’t lie, this is not all of the time. Am I lucky that I am so fit and healthy for my age, not sure.
Getting slower is a natural occurrance (unless you start slow like me then it doesn’t really change too much!). I’m probably still vain to be happy that I am (as we speak) 67.3kgs and healthy looking, and that whenever I go walking with anyone up hills, I am the only one not out of breath.
I still love my running in all weathers, maybe cycling takes a knock in shit weather but in great weather climbing with views is fabulous. Swimming is also nice especially in a Loch, the freedom, the free spirit I guess.
I am going to get back into bouldering very soon and get into climbing and kayaking, it’s just having the time at the moment with work grrrr gets in the way.
So my summary is be happy and celebrate each year, there are many who have not achieved what we have, many who will never achieve what we have, and many who didn’t live to be able to achieve what we have. We are quite lucky that we are (still?) here and lucky that we have the mindset, ability and health to be in what, the fittest 0.5% for our ages? 
Woke up to this, what a brilliant post.
Applicable to all ages not just the coffin dodgers.
The fact that it seems to have been written at 5 in the morning makes it quite astounding !
Over 50’s thread innit. Either a full bladder or burning desire to be first in the queue at the post office 
or 1st at the local pool at 6am to breaststroke slowly in the fast lane. 