I’m not sure how old I was when I both recognized AND accepted that I was past my peak. As a lifelong soccer player, I could tell at 34 that I was losing top end sprint speed. Then later in my 30s I felt the top end speed on the bike go. In each of these cases, I simply changed my game. On the field, more passing. On the bike, more climbing.
And then that started slipping.
Into my early 40s I was still pretty happy with my cardiovascular capacity. I had never been a pure speed guy. I’d always been a distance guy. I’d always been able to climb pretty well. Or at least these were the things I told myself as entropy took hold. At some indistinct point, I was just not as good as I’d been, and I knew it.
None of this is a real problem. Sure, there is a certain joy in being at your absolute physical peak. There is a real sensual satisfaction in your body doing all the work that’s asked of it. But if we only liked doing things to the absolute best of our abilities, I’d only really be drinking coffee anymore. I can crush some coffee.
Now I like different aspects of my various athletic pursuits. I’m more into bike handling than bike pedaling these days. Honestly, it feels more like play than grinding out miles ever did. Maybe the human psyche is well-designed enough to shrink our egos as our physical capacities go the same way. I suppose on some level I envy younger people the ease with which they do things, but at the same time I may be enjoying riding bikes (and all the other stuff I do) more than ever. I certainly don’t take it for granted.
Anyway, this week’s TCI Friday wonders at what age was your cardiovascular peak? This may not even be your athletic peak. I’m just thinking about your ability to go fast or far or both. Or maybe…oh my geez…maybe you haven’t reached it yet.
I don’t accept that I’m past my peak but I am. Mine was probably 2013 when I rode the D2R2 180k and it came pretty easily…or maybe the 2010 GMSR. The thing is, in my racing days I now realize I raced stupidly and made up for it with power. _If_ I get back to racing I think I can achieve better results now given that I can race smarter…but then who cares ;D. Going fast in a group on the road is still fun though…I hope I can get back to that. In the meantime, I am still getting better in other ways. I rode more stuff at Highland (downhill bike park) this year than ever before – I’m not good but not bad for a 50+. Growth mindset!
Thank you for reading my stream-of-consciousness blather inspired by your column.
I can think of 4 ways to measure my cardio “peak fitness”; (1) Soccer fitness (this was probably also my atletic peak) was in 2000 and that was the summer when I tore up my left knee – which was the end of soccer for me, (2) Cycling fitness was 2016 the year I was competitive in multiple 100+ mile gravel races, (3) Running fitness was around 2007 when I won a 10K road race, (4) Swimming fitness was 2006 when I set personal best times in multiple race distances. Now days I’m working my way back from multiple injuries over the last 4 years and how I measure my fitness is my ability to still go out and have fun and not have these repetitive stress injuries reemerge. I started mountain biking last year and I’ve been following the discussion here at TCI about “bike-handling” closely. I still don’t quite know how I relate to that topic but it’s a path of new discovery and some new form of fitness that I’m still figuring out.
I was at my best when I was in my forties. When I hit fifty I lost motivation to endlessly train. My time on the bike now(at 56) seems more enjoyable but I do suffer a bit.
I remember watching a Cubs game when I was in my mid-to-late-30s and realizing that I was older than nearly all of the players on the field. Realization #1.
I played competitive hockey until I was in my early 50s. I could have kept playing, I suppose, but getting up and going to work after a game that ended at midnight proved daunting. One does not go to sleep immediately after a hockey game.
I rode well really until my cancer and treatments began to get the better of me. I thought riding more would help me maintain my strength and endurance, so I rode more — longer distances, more intervals, etc. But, nope, I got weaker and slower until the point when I was a drag on my group and started riding by myself. Took a while to accept all of that. Truthfully, I still haven’t accepted all of it.
Merry Christmas to you, John, Stevil, Padraig, Maureen and John. Thank you for all of the great reading and listening, and thank you for publishing my occasional musings!