AUSTIN, Texas - Just like anyone else participating in the upcoming Capitol of Texas Triathlon, Kevin Gillespie starts his workouts with a little stretching. But Gillespie isn't like the other athletes. He has more years under his belt.

"Oh, I never thought I'd do anything like this at this age," said Gillespie.

Gillespie is 70 years old, but that's not slowing him down.

Over the past three months, he has trained close to 10 hours a week for the race.

"I'm really excited to see how he races. He has just come such a long way in such a short time so it's fun. We always say the race is the reward of all the training," said Natasha Van Der Merwe, Gillespie's coach.

Gillespie considers himself lucky because on race day, he'll have a longtime friend by his side.

"It's 30 years old. It's an aluminum bike and I feel comfortable on it," said Gillespie.

It's a bike that's much different than most of the ones you'll see on race day.

"The gears are down below me on the bike, they're not up on the handle bars like the new bikes," said Gillespie.

Gillespie says it's not about the gear or your age but the drive to push yourself.

"I would advise people to have confidence in themselves," said Gillespie. "If I can do it, others can do it."

Gillespie hopes to finish Monday's Life Time Tri CapTex in under two hours.