Training for the Old Guys
By Philippe Guillo

When Michael Maddess asked me to write an article about training for the mature athlete, he undoubtedly assumed I was in shape. If only he knew!

At 51 years old with a two-year-old daughter and eight-month-old son, training has a completely different meaning than it did when I was younger and childless. These days the most challenging part of training, is just finding the time to train. With limited time, I have to be efficient about how I train. And with my advancing years and a family depending on me, I also have to be smarter about minimising injuries.

I focus on what I really enjoy, namely biking and kayaking. I run to maintain some measure of cardio-vascular fitness and I swim mainly because I hate stretching!

Thankfully all those hours of training I did when I was younger have given me a good base in fitness and skill. When I bike, I focus on interval training at a fast pace, instead of long moderately-paced rides. I typically bike twice a week for 25 – 30 kilometres, on trails in the Shi Ma Wan Peninsula or during off-peak times along the Hong Kong Trail (keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t run into any Country Park patrols). When family life allows, I have a longer ride on the weekend with my friend and race partner, Guillaume.

Kayaking is probably the most logistically difficult discipline to train. If you are relatively new to kayaking, then just try to get out on the water as much as you can. I am fortunate to have easy access to the ocean as well as sit-on-tops and sit-in kayaks. Generally I kayak more during the warmer months than during the winter. One way I found to combine training with family-time, was to have my then-pregnant wife, Frances, just sightsee in the front with our daughter, while I did all the work at the back!

Running is probably my least favourite adventure racing discipline. That is with the exception of running up and down riverbeds, which I love. Nevertheless it is excellent for building and maintaining cardio-vascular endurance.  When training on the flat, I sometimes take along world’s best trainer, our daughter Abigail, who sits in her three-wheel running pram, pushing me to go “faster Papa, faster!”

If you are new to running, then start with walk-jog sessions. Gradually build your fitness over a few weeks before introducing sprint interval training with active recovery. As most adventure races are on trails, include some trail running in your training regime. Work on hills, uneven terrain and river beds to build your agility and confidence.

Even though (or perhaps because) my wife is a yoga teacher, I hate stretching! Unfortunately all the above sports make my psoas and illiopsoas really tight, which in turn gives me lower back pain. I’ve found swimming freestyle regularly helps keep this pain at bay. I now swim about four times a week all year round for about a kilometre each time.  If you partner and children enjoy the water, this is another place you can combine training with family time.

Swimming can also be a good way to train when you’re injured. Wearing a neoprene vest or holding a kickboard, you can run in the deep end of the pool with no impact on your joints. Thirty minutes of water running is the equivalent of an hour’s land running.

When training for a race, Guillaume and I try to get out on the race route and do a bike, run and kayak consecutively for at least six hours. During these sessions, we work on speed and fast transitions. Apart from training in the individual disciplines, you can also use these simulated races to figure out your gear, food and drinks. It’s important to train together so you can find out each others’ strengths and weaknesses. Everyone communicates and reacts differently under pressure, so get to know how you can support each other before the actual race. Perhaps the most challenging part of racing is finding the right partner. But it can also be the most rewarding. Because just like in life, when you’re with a great partner, you can achieve so much more than you could alone.

Good luck!

Training Tips
General
1. Train a little bit regularly to maintain your fitness, rather than stopping for a long time then restarting just before a race.
2. Listen to your body and don’t be afraid to stop and rest.

Biking
1. Look ahead rather than at an obstacle. If you focus on the obstacle you’re more likely to hit it.
2. Stay on your pedals and on your bike as long as you can.

Kayaking
1. Use straight arms and stroke from your core, rather than using your arms to stroke.
2. Just pull to the line of your hips. If you go further back than this, your kayak will swerve unnecessarily.

Running
1. Conserve energy by keeping your feet closer to the ground, rather than taking big bouncy steps.
2. When going downhill, lean forwards and use the momentum of your body weight to generate your speed.

Swimming
1. Reach long with your arms, rotating your torso so you’re almost on your stroking side as you pull.
2. Breathe bilaterally.