OJAI : Woman, 62, Savors Triathlon Euphoria

Darlene Rand, 62, of Ojai started swimming last summer for the first time in 30 years. By August, she was competing in her first triathlon, a grueling sport of swimming, bicycling and running.

“It was such a high. Those endorphins must have lasted for days,” Rand recalls with a wide grin.

Now she admits to craving the euphoria that she gets from taking risks and reaching her goals.

In June, the vivacious grandmother will travel to Syracuse, N.Y., to enter the National Senior Olympics’ first triathlon events.

The U.S. National Senior Sports Organization holds the competitions every two years. The new triathlon is open to all who can prove their ability to swim 400 meters, bike 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) and run five kilometers (3.1 miles).

Rand said she doesn’t know how many other women will compete in her age category, but it doesn’t matter anyway.

“I’m certainly no athlete,” she said. “It’s an amazement to me that I’m doing this.”

Rand placed first in a Rose Bowl senior women’s triathlon a month ago. She kept up with the men and only learned later that she was the sole woman to enter the 60-64 age category.

At age 30, Rand said she suddenly decided to be a dancer because she’d lost a lot of weight and felt like getting on stage in a leotard. She spent 10 years with a professional dance troupe until her leaping days were over.

At 42, she went back to college while caring for her three children, developed her Ventura practice as a marriage and family counselor and recently took to the stage again to star in Ojai theater productions.

Bicycling has always been a hobby, she said, but she seldom ran or swam until last summer.

Now, Rand’s five-day training schedule includes three days of swimming and three days of sprinting and running up to five miles. She bicycles 20 to 40 miles whenever she can. On Sunday, she pumped 25 miles with the Ventura Bicycle Club.

After New York, Rand plans to train for a longer, international triathlon with a mile swim, a 40-kilometer ride and a 10-kilometer run.

“I’m not too worried. I’m close to that now,” she said.