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An Executive’s Journey from Injury to Ultra-Endurance Success

November 22, 2011

Edward Pope
Age: 51
Hometown: Newport Beach, CA
Occupation: Investor and retired CEO

The Challenge

Edward Pope is used to putting in hard work and seeing results. It’s a way of life that’s helped him achieve success as a businessman, ultra-endurance athlete, Judo champion, and 2007 America’s Cup professional polo champion. So when his doctor told him that he needed a knee replacement at the age of 48, Pope feared surgery would end his athletic lifestyle.

“I was worried if I had the surgery I’d be starting a downward spiral where I’d lose my muscular strength and athletic ability,” said Pope. He wanted to find coaches to help him avoid surgery, improve his fitness, and achieve his goal of competing in elite level ultra-distance mountain biking. After reading about Athletes’ Performance in Men’s Journal, Pope contacted the Los Angeles facility and signed up for personal training.

The Results

Pope said that the Athletes’ Performance team treats him like a professional athlete instead of a corporate client or aging athlete. In turn, he puts his full trust in them. “I told them, ‘I’m a robot—you tell me what to do, and I’ll do it,'" said Pope.

“Ed shows up always focused on the day’s task,” said Roy Holmes, a performance specialist at Athletes’ Performance. “Our primary focus has been endurance and pillar strength. For him to ride his bike the way he does for as long as he does, his technique has to be sound.”

As part of his training, Pope and his coaches have worked on achieving a balance of strength and fitness. He's focused on hand and grip strength—vital for tough descents—as well as hip and knee stability.

In addition to his weekly training sessions at Athletes' Performance, Pope rounded out his support team by working with bike coach Ryan Draper and a sports psychiatrist. All told, his training has given him more confidence and ability to handle tough terrain.

When Pope first visited Athletes’ Performance a year ago, he could hardly walk without limping. Now he feels like an elite athlete again. He just completed the 24 Hours of Adrenalin race in Canmore, Canada, in which he mountain biked more than 150 miles nonstop, burned more than 30,000 calories, and ascended upwards of 20,000 feet.

He was the top finisher over the age of 40 and 11th overall out of 500 riders. He believes much of his success comes from his coaches addressing issues that elite bikers in his category may have ignored. "Training at Athletes’ Performance has kept me from a variety of tendinitis issues, and now I can outlast guys on tough, technical courses,” said Pope.

Pope has qualified to represent the United States in the World 24 Hour Solo Mountain Bike Championships, a nonstop race against 500 riders from more than 20 countries. He continues to train at Athletes' Performance and is working with the rest of his coaching team leading up to the race in September 2012. His goal is to place in the top five of the Master's Division and in the top 20 overall.

Pope is certain he made the right decision about his knee and has some advice for other athletes facing the obstacle of injury: “Don’t underestimate your own power to heal or improve your situation. You’re never done being an athlete, no matter your age. It takes focus, energy and determination, but that great feeling you get from athletics never goes away.”

How does Ed train for the 24 Hour Solo Mountain Bike Championships? Check out photos from Ed's training sessions at Atheltes' Performance here.