How a triathlon legend helps the athletes she coaches go faster after 40

Three-time Xterra world champion Mel McQuaid became the oldest professional to race at the Ironman World Championship in October, 2023.

Athletes in both the elite and age-group categories are proving that 40 can be the start of some of their best performances rather than a decline. There are realities of aging that must be respected, but that doesn’t mean your fastest splits have to be behind you. Here are effective ways I’ve modified training and psychology in athletes I coach to help them be faster after 40.

Photo above: Donna Kay Ness went under 11 hours to win the women’s 60 to 64 age group in Kona in 2023.

Mindset

Every athlete can point to their best race and still find areas for improvement. Mastery of triathlon is challenging and, while some improvements are quicker and simpler to gain than others, some dangle just out of reach. Maintaining focus on chasing these improvements is key to maintaining motivation year after year. Focusing on the experience of doing triathlon without expectation of a specific result seems like it wouldn’t be the path to high performance, but it is. The pressure, stress and distraction from focusing on an outcome is unnecessary. The magic lies in simple day-to-day focus on making yourself better.

For athletes over 40, the whole concept that there could be better performances than when they were younger is difficult to imagine. They struggle to believe in that possibility simply because they aren’t seeing where the opportunity lies.

Most athletes assess their ability and judge solely by their best splits, training metrics or finishes in races. Zooming out and analysing how those accomplishments were achieved, and how they might have been better, is the area where opportunity lies. Training smarter and developing better fitness is possible for some, but there are also ways to improve without becoming physically stronger. Better skills, improved aerodynamics and smarter race execution are all ways to finish a race faster. Physics trumps physiology every time, a fact athletes who struggle with swimming are constantly reminded of.

If you want to stay fast as you age, your main objective should be to stay motivated, focused and willing to train hard. Constantly comparing yourself to what—and how—you did things when you were younger in a negative way is not going to be helpful. There is no point in lamenting the things you may have lost from your youth, which sabotages your happiness and enjoyment of sport in the present. There are things that improve as we get older. Generally, older athletes have more time, money, resources, training partners, experience, confidence and patience. These skills and assets are powerful tools to have in endurance sport, so put them to work with the right mindset.

 

Nutrition

Although nutritional preferences vary from one individual to another, it is useful to follow the science for some basic principles. The most important nutritional habit, in my opinion, is ensuring adequate protein intake.

Aging is associated with sarcopenia, or muscle wasting. There is new research indicating time away from activity causes muscle wasting, and older people are simply unable to rebuild the lost muscle. Preventing time away from activity and any muscle loss is job number 1 as an athlete.

Since older athletes have slower muscle regeneration, having a nutrition strategy that maximizes the ability to rebuild muscle is crucial. This means ensuring there is a constant supply of building materials for the body to regenerate muscle after training and adequate calories to fuel activity. Protein intake factors in heavily in managing availability of substrate for muscle regeneration. A new study by Luc Van Loon dispels a lot of old advice and encourages much higher protein intake than previously recommended. Athletes, especially older athletes, should aim to eat 1.8 to 2.0 g/kg per day in three to four meals. Keeping a greater supply of protein available, particularly during intense training blocks, helps maximize the process of muscle regeneration and continue it longer, ensuring muscle tissue is preserved.

Preservation of muscle mass is crucial to maintain aerobic capacity, strength, power and endurance. Age-related sarcopenia is a huge factor in lower capacity for exercise and will slow athletes down if left unchecked. For this reason, focusing on maximizing protein intake is key in maintaining speed in triathlon.

Speed

Pure speed ultimately determines sustainable speed. The neuromuscular recruitment of fast-twitch fibres used in creating speed, and the amount of those transitional fibres, degrades with age. Those fibres are key in fatigue resistance, and this is the quality that determines success in long course racing. For this reason, all athletes and especially older athletes, need to address speed maintenance, regardless of the distance they race.

An example of pure speed training is executing eight- to 15-second sprints with full recovery. This type of work is not taxing to most endurance-focused athletes. Only a small amount of sprint work aimed at speed development and maintenance goals is required. These intervals can be placed first along with other intervals or in a short standalone session.

This type of training is important for all three sports but is critical in running to maintain elasticity. Elasticity and quick ground contacts are key in maintaining a fast pace run, and speed repetition creates preferred pathways of co-ordination. It helps to address sprint technique as well as this type of work ingrains better run mechanics that are carried into all paces.

Strength

Fast athletes are also strong athletes. Maximum strength is associated is an important component in speed production as vertical force production affects both ground contact time and stride length in running. Maximum force also factors into the amount of force coordinated by the neuromuscular system and applied to your pedals in producing power on the bike and pulling water while swimming.

Strength directly correlates with speed and is also associated with longevity. It also underpins durability in an athlete, which is required for consistent training demands of long course racing. For this reason, incorporating work on maximum strength in programming at some point during the year is a non-negotiable in older athletes. Developing skill in the weight room and improving strength in general preparation is a good strategy. This quality can be maintained with short sessions every 10 days in race season.

Note: protein intake and caloric balance are essential to maximize the benefits of strength work. Having adequate building blocks available to regenerate after these sessions is critical in their effectiveness.

Kona Coverage: Ladies Day on the Queen K

Plyometrics

Connective tissue quality degrades with age. Tendons and ligaments have protective sensors that determine the amount of elasticity they will allow and, over time, that elasticity declines. These tissues can be trained to be more elastic with plyometric exercises that stretch and shorten them quickly.

Plyometrics demand focus on good technique and appropriate load management but are essential for maintenance of elastic tissue integrity over time. These exercises are part of the puzzle in reducing age-related speed decline. A small amount of technically sound plyometric jumps is associated with better run economy and can prevent injury. It is important that these jumps are executed well, so some coaching on landing mechanics is required.

Of all these training principles, the most important is the first: your mindset. If you believe you can be fast, or not, you are right. Step one in staying fast in long-course racing is believing you can. The next step is making a few training modifications to help you do exactly that.

Mel McQuaid (pictured above on the bike in Kona in 2023) is a regular contributor to Triathlon Magazine. She is an elite athlete and coach based in Victoria, B.C., Canada.

This story originally appeared in the September issue of Triathlon Magazine.