How I Got This Body: Exercising makes his day

LOU HARRIS, 76, MINNEAPOLIS, TRIATHLETE

Exercise outlet I was a hyperkinetic child. I got into a lot of mischief all because of too much energy, so I've always been in sports. I have an unusual amount of energy and would rather miss a meal than miss a workout, so to put it in shorter terms I'm a compulsive exerciser. I just have to do it; it's just not a day unless I do it. I start out the day exercising because I can't seem to do anything else until I get exercise out of the way.
From All-American to the World Championships Last June I made the All-American team by finishing in the top five [in the 75 to 79 age group] at the National Age Group Championships in Portland, Ore. This season I'm going to enter four triathlons. The first is the World Age Group Triathlon Championships in Vancouver [B.C.] in June. Then I'm going to do Waconia, Lifetime Fitness and Turtleman. Just do it I'm not technical in any way. If I feel good I go hard, and if I don't feel good I go easy, but I always just do it.
All about outlook People were asking [baseball player] Satchel Paige how he felt about his age and aging and he said, "Don't look back. You never know what is gaining on you." If you start thinking about how old you are, your aches and pains, your deterioration, then it's going to consume you. You just can't think about it. I'm not kidding myself -- I don't think I'm a teenager anymore, but I'm doing everything I did when I was a teenager, so that's good enough for me.
Aside from training I write novels. In a 13-month time span I went to Costa Rica, Turkey, Ecuador, the Galapagos, Tahiti, Malta, Sicily and Italy. We have this big house on Lake Harriet and I do pretty much all the yard work and manual labor.
Stats My best time from last year was at the Lifetime Fitness triathlon right in town here. It was perfect conditions and a flat course and was a great day for it. My best swim at age 75 was 32:54 [1.5K], the best bike was 1:29:27 [40K] and my best run was 58:36 [10K], and those are from three different races. I don't exactly get a thrill from winning; it's just that I'm afraid of losing.