There were two times in my life when I wanted to be older than I actually was.  First, was the obvious 20 year old who wanted to be 21 so I could legally drink Boone’s Farm and Sloe Gin.  The second was likely less obvious to most people–when I was 59, I couldn’t wait until I turned 60.

Welcoming a major birthday with open arms is a gift competing in triathlons and running races has given me.  I am a somewhat competitive person, and racing gives me a positive outlet for my competitiveness.  People who are familiar with various race events know that awards are given for overall finish times, but also by gender in 5-year age groups.  For example, you might compete in the M30-34 division, or now in my case, the W60-64 division.  As you can imagine, there are psychological and physical reasons why being at the bottom of an age group should help you finish in a higher position than being at the top of an age group.

My first race at age 60 was Lavaman Waikoloa on March 30. I finished first in my age group with a time of 2:52:16. If I had raced in the 55-59 age group, I would have placed 7th. Mariane Uehara Marr, pictured here, finished in 2:18.

Being younger in an age group is an advantage, but I have podiumed many times even as I’ve moved towards being the oldest in my age group.  In fact, I have actually gotten stronger, if not faster, over the past 5 years through consistent training.  At my age, I assume that by nature my body will deliver diminishing performance over time, but that consistent and smarter racing and training might help me maintain or improve my race performance.

Just a few weeks before my birthday, I was the first of 98 women in the 55-59 age group to finish the Hawaii Pacific Health 10k. I’m shown here with Connie Comiso-Fanelli and Jerelyn Brown.

I am currently about a month away from competing at Ironman Brazil. My goal there is to win the W60-64 division so I earn an invitation to the Ironman World Championship in Kona this October. Almost a year ago, I researched all of the qualifying 2014 races that would give me a good chance to win when I “aged up” to 60. And this was the race that looked like it would give me the best chance.   Wish me luck!

Did I welcome my 60th birthday?  Heck yeah, thanks to living a life that includes triathlon.  I wonder how I’ll feel about turning 65?  Who knows.  For now, I’m going to enjoy being the “youngster” in my age group!

When I was younger, I imagined that I would feel much older at 60 than I do. I truly think that the health and confidence triathlon has given me has made the difference. Thanks, Rick for my birthday gift of these amazing shoes!