Now, a typical week of training looks like this: She goes to the track on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for practice in sprints and field events, like throwing and jumping. Tuesday and Thursday is strength training and some social cardio; she does 25 minutes of weightlifting using machines, followed by playing tennis with friends. On Saturdays, she runs long—about three miles. And then Sunday is set aside for some sweet, sweet rest.
That multifaceted routine keeps her healthier than if she limited herself to a single sport or workout, she believes. “You really should have another outlet so you have other parts of your body that will be getting exercise,” she says. “Doing the same thing all the time is not good for your body.”
2. Break big goals down into smaller parts.
Ask Meiler her favorite events, and she’s quick to name the hardest ones: the hurdles and the pole vault. “The pole vault is very, very challenging, and it takes an awful lot of stamina,” Meiler says. “I really have to work hard for that.”
To practice, she goes to nearby South Burlington High School. First, she’ll take three or four runs with her pole, planting it in the ground in the designated spot. Then, she’ll set up a bungee cord to practice jumping over. “You can’t practice with the bar, because if you keep falling, you get black and blue” from the bar hitting you as you both tumble down, she says; the bungee cord is much softer and gentler.
It’s only on meet day that she puts it all together by planting her pole and sailing over a bar. The method clearly works: At the Masters Indoor World Championships in Gainesville, Florida, in March, she set a world record for women ages 90 to 94 when she cleared 4 feet, 6 inches. (And by the way, she also set world records in the 60-meter hurdles, high jump, and pentathlon in the same meet, bringing her total of world bests to more than 40, she says.)
3. Ramp up before a big event—and rest afterward.
In the weeks before a competition like the National Senior Games—a biennial event most recently held in Des Moines, Iowa, from July 24 to August 4—Meiler further dials in her preparation. “When you know you’re going to have a meet, you’re more intense in what you’re doing. You pay more attention,” she says. She focuses on nailing down details such as how many steps she’ll take before the high jump and that pesky board position for the triple jump.
But just as important as the preparation is the recovery that comes afterward. After competing in 10 events over five days, earning 11 gold medals and one silver, and breaking two world records, she was exhausted. “I was so tired when I came home, I didn’t even want to see the track,” she says.
So she took an entire week off training. Even when she picked things back up, she took cues from her body about how to proceed. The first morning she went back to practice, she planned on working on the long jump, but the 90-degree temperatures altered her strategy. “It was so hot that I said, ‘this is for the birds,’” she says. “I went walking for about 12 minutes in the woods because it was just too hot.”
4. Use consistency to build motivation (and results!).
Even as 93-year-old Elaina Gonzalez has moved around the country—from Los Angeles to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Lakeville, Minnesota—she has made sure to keep her body moving regularly, too. Her routine has almost always included yoga, though the other components have shifted, moving away from running toward less high-impact forms of cardio like dance and walking.