The triathlon world woke up Monday morning with a new star monopolizing tri tweets and headlining triathlon blogs and websites all over the high tech world.
Unless you have just returned from a cabin in the deep woods sans I-phone you are most likely very aware of the exciting happenings that took place in the inaurural Ironman Panama 70.3 on Sunday February 12, 2012.
The venerable Lance Amstrong showed the endurance sporting world something very important that should insipire and encourage all those who think they are simply getting too old.
It seems that the general consensus is that at the age of 35 endurance begins an inevitable downward spiral that results in more mature athletes being blown away on the race course by those who are younger, stronger, faster, and more able to sustain a high, heart-pounding pace longer than the old guys.
In a way it's true because Olympic class runners will often progress from the 200 meters to the 400 meters, 800 meters, mile, 10,000 meters, and the marathon as they age.
Of couse this is because their speed diminishes as the years pass, but on the other side of the coin their endurance improves. How often have you seen or heard of a 10k runner moving up to the marathon distance for the first time and having a spectacular result?
They have the perfect combination of endurance and speed that basically makes them ideal candidates to stretch out the distance and become marquee marathoners as they age.
So how old is too old and just where does an athlete begin to lose endurance?
It seems that "endurance begins it's decline at age 35" is sort of an old-fashioned idea that just keeps popping up everywhere.
It's kind of like that tired, worn out statement "you should drink at least 12 glasses of water a day."
For God's sake let it go. Who on earth drinks 12 glasses of water a day?
Is seems wrong to paint everyone with the same brush.
Yes, it may be true that many athletes will see their endurance begin to slip away in their mid-30's, but perhaps it's because they think it's the natural order of things and as a result they just let it happen.
Just what would be the result if an athlete decided they were not willing to accept that conventional wisdom?
Most likley they would become like Martina Navratilova who partnered up with Bob Bryan and finished off her tennis career by winning the mixed doubles at the 2006 U.S. Open.
Oh by the way, at the time Martina was one month away from here 50th birthday.
Or better yet, they might be like 41-year-old, re-born triathlete Lance Armstrong who just seems to get stronger and shocked the triathlon world to it's very core by coming within a whisker of winning his first Ironman race as a pro in Panama this past weekend.
It was far from a field of week sisters as he trounced some of the top Ironman pros in the world.
The lesson here seems to be that an athlete can sustain their high level of endurance for many years without it diminishing if they have the self-confidence, dedication, and motivation to make it so.
Perhaps this quote from The Journal of Physiology says it best.
Older (‘Masters') athletes strive to maintain or even improve upon the performance they achieved at younger ages, but declines in athletic performance are inevitable with ageing.
Peak endurance performance is maintained until 35 years of age, followed by modest decreases until 50–60 years of age, with progressively steeper declines thereafter.
Given their impressive peak performance capability and physiological function capacity, Masters athletes remain a fascinating model of ‘exceptionally successful ageing' and therefore are highly deserving of our continued scientific attention as physiologists.
No kidding!
Pay special attention to the phrase......
Given their impressive peak performance capability and physiological function capacity, Masters athletes remain a fascinating model of 'exceptional successful ageing'.
If ever there was anyone who is a perfect example of "exceptional successful ageing" it would be Lance Armstrong.
Combine his work ethic and do whatever it takes to win attitude with his attention to detail and you have an adversary that pro triathletes around the world have every reason to fear and respect as the 2012 Ironman Triathlon season gets underway in earnest.
This is the same Lance Armstrong who would climb the steepest hills in the alps over and over again in the same training session in preparation for the Tour d'France.
He was a student of the Tour and did his homework well and it showed on race-day when it mattered most.
You can bet Lance will be going over his performance in Ironman Panama 70.3 meter by meter and he will figure it out. This is just the beginning for Lance and the triathlon world is in for a wild, exciting ride.
Lance is his own man but has so much in common with Dave Scott who won Ironman Hawaii six times and then came back in 1994 when he was 40 and came in second. Then he came back in 1996 when he was 42 and ran a 2:45 marathon while coming in 5th against the best young Ironman pros the world had to offer.
In the early 1980's when most of the early ironmen were trying to figure out how to survive the Hawaii Ironman, Dave Scott was out on the Queen K. Hawaii deciding what gear ratio he would be in on different parts of the course.
Lance has the same attention to detail and this is what will take him to the top of the Ironman podium one day.
So what can we expect from Lance Armstrong the triathlete?
He has Ironman France 2012 fixed in his steely gaze and has a very good chance of winning. The longer distance will work in favor of his tenacious spirit and depth of endurance earned over thousands of miles of Tour racing against the greatest cyclists in the world.
There is also a very good chance that Lance will earn enough World Championship points to answer the starting gun in Kona Harbor in the Fall of 2012.
Will he win?
There is no doubt he will be in the mix for the top spot on the podium and at the very least Lance Armstrong the triathlete is about to provide an Ironman season full of intrigue, speculation, and excitement and will vault the sport of triathlon that has already done so much for so many into the limelight of the sporting world.
For full pro and age-group results of the inaugural Ironman Panama 70.3 visit http://www.ironstruck.com
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