How old

[racer102]

How old were you when you did your first triathalon

[chrisesposito]

46.

Chris

[cjbruin]

16...almost 17

1984 Bud Light Long Beach Tri...it was a weird distance. Something like 1K swim, 30K bike, 15K run. Did a couple more before I was 18 then took some time off.......like 20 yrs. Became a born-again triathlete in 2004.

By the way, did the first one on my Schwinn Spitfire beach cruiser :)

[jennings780]

35 - 4 months ago.
Wish I had started a few years ago - but not too long ago. I wasn't ready for this in my 20s. I wouldn't have had the discipline to train and to juggle other things in my life.

[snookdude]

34.

Last weekend.

I'm hooked.

[MHR]

1984 at the age of 24, it was a Bud Lite/USTS Olympic distance event.
Now 46 (soon to be 47) 25+ Olympic, (9)1/2 IM's and (3) IM's and some 15 marathons later I still look forward to each season and every race....and I can still kick some butt.

Next Up: Detroit Marathon 10/2005 (for the PR), Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon and Marathon 01/2006, Boston Marathon 4/2006

[roadie gal]

46. It was this summer. A bunch of the women from work decided to do a local sprint tri. I came in 3rd for my age group. Now I'm hooked and I'm signed up for the Luna Bar sprint tri in Sacramento in 2 weeks.

[H2OChick]

32. This summer! Carlsbad Triathlon.

[caloso]

19. At the 1986 Beale AFB Triathlon. A weird distance: 1k swim, 19 mile bike, 10k run. I came in 3d in my age group (I think there only were 3). Still my best placing.

[jdtschida]

25

[TriBob]

28, sprint race.

[apw0397]

28. About 1 year ago this weekend. Will be doing the same race this year to see how much I have improved.

[ShawneeSpeed]

27

[soloryder]

43 just last Sat. Sprint Tri in Montreal

[^*^BATMAN^*^]

um abou 17......heh and that was only 4 years ago....lol....all you old people....hahahah :p

[clfjmpr44]

28, last weekend Sprint Tri

[Sprocket Man]

About 24 yrs old (back in 1989). My bike was equipped with downtube shifters and a Scott DH bar that looked like this (that's not me in the picture, I just wanted to show what kind of bike technology was available back then) :
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/8438/scottdhbars8tc.th.jpg (http://img8.imageshack.us/my.php?image=scottdhbars8tc.jpg)

Competed for a couple years, took 10+ years off to nuture a wonderful beer belly and have been spending the last year trying to get back into decent shape.

[gwhunt23]

14 years old. Xterra wouldn't let me in the race, so I told them I was 15. It got me in and I loved the race. It was completely awesome!

I've been hooked since (turning 15 in 8 days.) I was first a biker... triathlons got me into running too. I now run cross country for my high school and I've shaved off 10 minutes of my 5k time since the beginning of the season. I'll be running 20's at the end of this season.

I'm actually doing a duathlon this weekend. Off-road, my favorite. :) I signed up for beginner because I'm actually racing a 5k run the day before. The beginner Du is two 1.5 miles runs split by a 9 mile bike. I'm aiming for sub-11 minutes each on the runs and 45 mins on the bike. My main worry is using too much at first and being dead on the last run. I'll be tempted to run a 9:30 on the first run. Gotta slow myself down I think. We'll see. :p

[lilscotboy]

28, two years (and now 7 tri's ago)

so addictive

[^*^BATMAN^*^]

Hey sproket man. My tri team has 2 people that are married and both used to be pro triathletes way back when. She got a new bike about a year ago, but his still has those bars on it, he can still ride like the wind too.

[Sprocket Man]

Hey sproket man. My tri team has 2 people that are married and both used to be pro triathletes way back when. She got a new bike about a year ago, but his still has those bars on it, he can still ride like the wind too. :) It's cool to hear those bars are still around. I haven't seen anyone with those around here in a very long time.

[sweetharriet]

24

[racergirl]

20

[Patriot]

For the women who responded to this thread, I read an interesting article on female training for women who are in their 30's and 40's.

It is well known, that women, being differant than men, can easily reach peak performance at a later age than many would think. Women can easily perform their best at ages well into the late 30's and 40's. One wonders why?

Apparently, alot of it has to do with testoserone levels. As women age, their testoserone level slowly increases, and their estrogen levels decrease. Testoserone is what helps make women even more enrgetic, and directly affects their ability to build muscle mass.

So, for women who are wondering about whether or not they can compete if they reach their late 30's or even if they are in their 40's, need not worry. Good training, proper diet, and the will to win, can breed some fantastic results.

Just thought I'd toss that out.

[hokie_girl]

24

[StanSeven]

46 for me too. That's the age of several of us when we started. Must be a mid-life crisis thing

[carrotpatchkid]

23

[specialK]

23

[H2OChick]

Regarding Patriot's two cents - that notion is supported if you just look at the standings. I think most of the women at the top of the lists are/were over 30. Some of the names that come to mind are Heather Fuhr, Michellie Jones, Barb Lundquist, Sheila Taormina, Julie Swail, and of course Paula Newby-Fraser. (Just pulling names from my head here...) We improve with age ;)

[cycleprincess]

31

[cjacks7]

24 last year

[chrisesposito]

46 for me too. That's the age of several of us when we started. Must be a mid-life crisis thing

No doubt :) However, as mid-life crisis responses go, it has considerable health and financial advantages over other well known responses (e.g., Corvettes, divorcing the first wife to marry a 20-something trophy wife, etc.).

[roadie gal]

I decided to do it after having a whole year where I could barely do anything do to some health problems. Once I had my health back, I just HAD to go and do something, in this case the triathlon, that I had always said I would do, but was too lazy to try before I became ill.