One of my mountain biking heroes is Ned Overend. If you don't know the name, Ned was a six-time US National cross country Champion and he won the first MTB World Championships. Then, in '98 and '99 (when he was 42&43) he won consecutive Xterra World Championships. At 50 he was 9th fastest on the bike leg and finished 21st at the Xterra World Championships.

What Ned DOESN'T do is long, low-medium intensity rides. He prefers hard rides of less than two hours and only rides three days a week.

There lies his secret: INTENSITY, and RECOVERY. As we age we simply need more recovery to perform well.

High-intensity training slows the rate of decline in our VO2max (the maximum rate of oxygen consumption measured during incremental exercise), and as we age we need more recovery from that.

I started on a similar program to Ned's program about 10 years ago. I read an article online where he mentioned he only rode three days a week and rode as hard as he could for 1.5-2 hours most of the time.

I was struggling to ride two or three days in a row and found I wasn't enjoying my riding quite as much as I used to. So I took Ned's advice and started riding harder for less time and focusing on recovery.

I decided to focus on high-quality rides, rest, and keeping my body strong by doing Foundation Training two to three days a week and riding three days a week. I stretch, foam roll, and do a little yoga six to seven days a week to keep my body moving with ease.

Now, I modified my program to do two to four-hour rides. I climb at moderate intensity and descent at high intensity. This way I get my high intensity in but get to ride a little longer than Ned - probably the same distance as Ned, just faster on the descents and slower on the climbs. Actually, way slower on the climbs. ;)

Here is a Strava screenshot of Ned at 62 vs me at 55.

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This program not only works, but only riding three days a week really keeps me excited about riding. I used to take six weeks a year off my bike to avoid burnout, but when I only get to ride three days a week I'm always excited to ride!

I have also really focused on my nutrition and sleep. I have cut way back on my carbohydrate intake (went full Keto for two years, now just try not to eat too many carbs except when riding) and have created an end-of-the-day routine to ease my anxiety and prepare for a good night's sleep.

My routine starts an hour before I want to fall asleep. I turn off all of my wired devices and start slowing down. I dim the lights, spend 20-60 minutes stretching, meditating, and doing breathing exercises. This calms my brain and body down helps me fall asleep quicker and get better quality sleep.

If you are starting to feel worn out, burnt out, or simply old, cut back on the amount of riding you do and focus on quality, intense rides, and getting good recovery. It seems to work for me and apparently works quite well for Deadly Nedly!

As always, please share your thoughts and experiences and feel free to call or e-mail with any questions.
Cheers
Gene