BlueSky:
not sure of your terrain.
how much hill climbing is in your ride, wind or rough road ?
i am just a year or two less experienced in life, than you are.
riding in a pretty hilly area, often on dirt gravel roads.
set my road bike up as a 1x, a few years before this was trendy to do.
ride with 39 X 11-36.
if possible, I would swap front chain rings to something lower ?
30 X 44 perhaps ? Not sure what works with your shifter ?