40 in 2 weeks but haven’t slept properly in years. Having twin 10 month old girls is taking it’s toll too. Up twice last night and then properly awake at 5.30 this morning. Just got back from a 2 1/2 hour roadie ride though and feel pretty good, off to the Osteo in a minute to get all the aches and strains of living like a 20 year old sorted out. I honestly think that my body will give up long before i’m ready for it too.

Was just talking to my buddy who trains me, and discussing next years goals, moving up to Division 1, getting my 25TT time down into the 56 minutes range and doing the Haute Route. I think I’m doing alright compared to some of the other 40 year olds I see.

Not really troubled too much with the sleeping, but when I come to fill in the ‘age’ box in questionnaires,I now seem to be lumped in with those up to 50……………………

49 here, just this week. Went out for a beer, drank 3 and a half pints and spent all night getting up to pee. Will stick to wine in the future.
Currently planning some big events for the big one next year, still fancy doing a half or full ironman before 60.

I’ve just gone the wrong side of 55. Train hard – sleep well. Simples.
(a bit of booze and shagging helps 😉 )

The bloke complaining about bruises not healing is prob. diabetic BTW. I notice the sleep thing as well (41) but I have always had a hard time switching off.

Issac Newton managed well on 18 hr days and a regular cycle of 6 hr/night, but his job was not too stressful. Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill rapidly became senile in their later years, suffering from interrupted sleep less than 6 hrs per night, often 4 hrs or less for a long period while running the country.

The theory now is that because the brain is basically a chemical engine, the deep REM sleep that lasts about 4 hours (and takes about 2 hrs to get into) is a actually the brain undergoing a deep cleaning process for left over chemical waste byproducts from thinking during the day.

Also, what is not thoery is that being sleep deprived has serious long term effects on health in many studies – people die much younger.

48 .. the worst thing is the need for reading glasses.. grabs you by surprise at 45 ish and disappers over a cliff soon after.. had the heart attacks OHS strokes so i m looking forward to a peaceful retirement and a sudden passing painlessy whilst sleeping aged 101

gunner that’s largely a crock…

1) Diabetes sometimes presents with repeated infections – not usually bruising. Think Leukaemia, Thrombocytopenia etc etc by all means… but capillary fragility and “senile Purpura” does also occur with age…. Usually not pre 60 though.

2) REM sleep does not last 4 hours a night… 2 hrs a night max.

3) People who are sleep deprived in experiments for several days, rapidly get back to normality with relatively few hours additional sleep. The “sleep is necessary to process chemicals” theory is totally unproven. There are other good “memory processing” or “evolutionary advantage” models.

4) Sleep deprivation has been shown to be harmful. How much of that is about disruption of circadian rhythms as in shift work or how much is because poor health (COPD, OSA, Depression etc) often leads to sleep deprivation, I’d be interested to know. Do you have any evidence?

50. No kids, no sleep problems.

46. no kids, no sleep problems…

but the gout (thanks mum), the stiff knees (which may be related to) the flat feet, the diabetes (thanks dad) & the grey hair (thanks dad, again) are now starting to bug me.

and my single vision glasses are starting to seem distinctly underpowered for close-up work 🙁

42 y o here .
Neeed a routine to get a good nights sleep ( 8 hours ) and suffer if only get 7 ish a night . Hate getting up for a pee 3 hours after going to bed . Realising that what i am now is about as good as its ever going to get .
I wont have kids , i wont ever win anything , or get any fitter / faster.
Everything hurts after a couple of hours on the bike . Old injuries hurt more in the cold weather .
Drinking need strategic planning if the next day is not going to be a mongfest. Cuts / bruises take forever to heal .
Notice the cold wind alot more. wont go out and end up on someones floor anymore .

wont go out and end up on someones floor anymore .

amen to that.
if I go out, I go locally, or I drive & don’t drink.

If I go into Leeds, for example, I really do not like watching the clock for the last train home, and I’m too tight to pay for a taxi or hotel room