I too am distressed by the recovery time I seem to need. Maybe the rest of the world is right and I am overdoing it, but there's no way that concerned observers could be right ... right?
In my case, ten years of letting the body go has, I think, built up a backlog of muscles and tissues and tendons and all that other stuff, not to mention the generous crash padding distributed around the place. I am now fairly fit - you can't leap on a bike and rattle off three hours of riding without being fit. I can push my heart rate harder for longer than I used to be able to. My resting hr has dropped from about 72 to 55. There is no doubt that I am fitter than I was 12 months ago. But I haven't lost any weight. Sure, there is a lot more muscle than before, which suggests that at least some fat has disappeared. My waistline refuses to reduce but is a different shape now. I now don't even think about climbing hills that only a few months back I feared. But it seems to take me forever to recover from the efforts.
Part of this is a continuing battle with depression - it's only mild and it's medicated but one of the effects off my depression is physical tiredness. I think that's an issue. So too is my sleep apnoea - although I wear a face mask connected to an air pump and appear to sleep well, I really have to wonder sometimes.
Another is the recent discovery that a bike that fitted nicely eight months ago doesn't anymore. Why? I currently postulate that my body has become stronger (better abdomen and back muscles) and hence my posture on the bike is better which has messed up a bike fit that made sense back then. Why else would a bike suddenly become too short for me, why I'd suddenly develop knee pain (which has been absent before and no, the seat hasn't shifted, I checked that) and why I now find her tiring to ride?
And, of course, now that I'm fitter, I'm more ambitious and push a lot harder, more often - that has to have an effect on the amount of recovery needed.
None of us are the fit, athletic creatures of our youth. We all have a history of bodily abuse of one sort or another, some more so than others. Many of us have popped out of our forties and realised we let things go for too long and are now trying to redress that. The result can be longer recovery times.
Whatever your situation, be wise. Listen to your body. If it wants a rest, give it one. Learn to rest on the bike (slow rides at low heart rates on flat roads). And no matter how horrible you feel, make sure you give the youngsters a cheery g'day as your roar past them
Richard