Let's be honest about ultra-endurance cycling for a moment. It's essentially mad, whichever way you look at it.
Riding 1,400 miles through six countries over multiple days, carrying everything you need, sleeping rough, and somehow maintaining enough mental clarity to navigate ancient Celtic routes while your body screams for mercy. It's the sort of undertaking that makes a normal person's weekend sportive look positively sensible.
But that's exactly what Alli Holland did when she won the Pan Celtic Race in 2023.
You might think this is where I tell you about some revolutionary training method or secret nutrition protocol that transformed a 50-year-old healthcare worker from Cornwall into an ultra-endurance champion. But you'd be wrong.
The truth is far more remarkable: Alli Holland doesn't do anything special. She just does the important things consistently, although she is very well suited to ultra-endurance cycling races.
When Alli started working with me in August 2022, she arrived with a problem that many cyclists - particularly women - will recognise all too well. Years of under-fuelling had quite literally broken her body. ‘Lighter is Faster’, although true in some respects, is a recipe for disaster in anything but the short term. The pursuit of being lighter had led to chronic knee problems as well as years of exhaustion, lack of motivation and mental stress.
By 2024, the damage was so severe that she needed both knees replaced. Most athletes would consider this the end of the story. Alli considered it an inconvenience and a challenge to deal with.
"Planning to ride my socks off before surgery, so keep me as fit as possible!"
she told me, demonstrating the sort of bloody-minded determination that helped her push through the difficult and uncertain times.
It took some work and open, honest discussions with those around her, but she stopped obsessing about food and weight. She started eating enough to fuel her training and although there are difficult times now and then, these are fewer and fewer.
She committed to two strength sessions per week, even when cycling volume was high, supplemented with daily rehab exercises in the initial phases after surgery.
Most importantly, she learned to communicate honestly about how she was actually feeling, rather than pretending everything was fine.
"I've been a bit sporadic with my logging, however, from Monday I will be more invested in building a whole picture of my current training," she noted during her return to structured work. It's the sort of unglamorous commitment that doesn't make headlines but builds champions.
Alli's training logs read like those of any committed amateur cyclist juggling work and training. "Had a death sock slip on the stairs last week and twisted my left knee," she reports matter-of-factly. "Extra work. I have a fair amount of extra to pack in for my uni course," she explains when scheduling gets complicated.
There are no dramatic pronouncements or inspirational quotes. Just the quiet reality of someone who understands that consistency trumps perfection every time.
"My ability to be able to lift my bike up over fences, push it up hills, get up after falling off and hold position on my bars after days of riding is definitely advantageous," she explains about her strength training. "I also see my strength training as a key element of ageing well. At my age and particularly as a female, I am currently at the greatest risk of muscle loss. I see these sessions as simply retaining what I've got! Use it or lose it."
The Pan Celtic Race in 2023 provided the perfect example of Alli's approach in action. Day 2 brought exactly the sort of crisis that derails many ultra-endurance efforts: "I over cooked day 2 and as it was hot and I was driving against a headwind, I managed to become heat exhausted and felt bloody awful/couldn't eat."
A less experienced rider might have panicked, pushed harder, or given up entirely. Alli did what needed doing: "I backed off and drank electrolyte+++, fuelled and spent too much time at checkpoint 1 eating peanut butter on toast. It worked however and day 3 was a pretty strong less faffy day."
Problem identified, solution implemented, race continued. No drama, no fuss, just effective problem-solving under pressure.
My approach to coaching Alli is consistent with how I work with a lot of people; I go for a gently directive, iterative approach. Rather than trying to transform her into someone else, I wanted to focus on helping her become the best version of herself.
As an experienced athlete, Alli doesn't need a lot of prescription in the execution of her training. I tend to give her a lot of freedom now we have developed an understanding of boundaries, the focus of each session, and what she needs to do to maintain mental health.
Monthly check-ins, WhatsApp messages, TrainingPeaks comments, and emails create a communication network that catches problems early. The approach was direct - sometimes uncomfortably so - but effective.
Weight remains a sensitive topic, with weigh-ins happening only "when her anxiety about weight allows it." Rather than forcing the issue, the coaching approach works around this limitation while maintaining focus on tracking energy levels through nuanced language and behaviours, performance and health.
If 2023 proved Alli's approach worked, 2024 tested whether it was sustainable. Double knee replacement surgery early in the year meant most of the season was spent either preparing for surgery, recovering, or carefully rebuilding fitness.
"Today I'm feeling positive about progress," she reported during week six of her comeback. "I feel I have now reached the stage where my activity sessions are adding to base fitness and development of strength."
Even during recovery, the fundamentals remained the same: honest communication, realistic expectations, and consistent work within current limitations.
"Just a gentle spin after morning strength session," she noted, demonstrating how the integrated approach to training continued even during rehabilitation.
Alli Holland's story matters because it's replicable. She didn't discover some secret training method or find a revolutionary approach to nutrition. She simply committed to doing the important things consistently, communicated honestly about challenges, and trusted the process even when progress felt slow.
At 50, working irregular shifts as a healthcare professional, dealing with ongoing knee issues, she's proving that sustainable performance isn't about perfect conditions or unlimited time. It's about making the most of what you have and being honest about what you don't.
"Well I didn't put myself in a hole today!" she noted after choosing rest over training. "Ended up with an extra revision day and a toast and chocolate fest! Probably good for me."
Sometimes the best training decision is not to train at all.
Ultra-endurance cycling is experiencing something of a boom for women, with events like the Transcontinental Race and others encouraging a strong women's field.
At the front, these events are now real races with battles for 'podium places', even though there are no prizes. However, most people are drawn by the adventure, the challenge, or simply the desire to see what they're capable of when pushed to their limits.
Alli's success provides a template that's both inspiring and practical. You don't need to be superhuman. You don't need perfect conditions. You don't need unlimited time or resources.
You just need to be consistently honest about what you're actually doing, rather than what you think you should be doing.
As ultra-endurance continues to grow, attracting more riders who balance competitive ambitions with full-time jobs and real-world responsibilities, Alli Holland's approach as a 50 year old female, offers something more valuable than inspiration. It offers proof that it's possible for you.
After spending most of 2024 struggling with knee replacements and recovery, 2025 delivered the ultimate vindication of her approach. She won Wild West Country again, and in a faster time than 2023, beating very strong competition. She placed 3rd at Solstice Sprint and 2nd at Mother North, perhaps what she considers to be her toughest challenge to date.
These weren't just comeback results - they were career-best performances at age 50, less than a year after double knee replacement surgery.
"I think I estimated 55-60hrs and it took me 46.58. Quite chuffed to get under 2 days," she reported after Wild West Country, matter-of-factly describing what amounted to a stunning return to form.
The same principles that had worked in 2023 - consistency, honest communication, backing off when needed - proved their worth again. No dramatic changes to methodology, no revolutionary breakthroughs. Just the quiet power of doing the important things consistently, even through major setbacks.
We can only imagine where Alli will be next year, if the improvement continues, and why shouldn't it?
Ready to find out what you're capable of when you do the important things consistently? Alli's transformation started with an honest conversation about what was really possible. Yours can too.
For the most comprehensive approach, our 1-1 Coaching Services offer fully personalized guidance tailored to your unique physiology, lifestyle, and goals. Working directly with a coach provides:
This personalized approach represents the gold standard for implementing sustainable training principles, as it adapts continuously to your evolving needs and responses.