BADASS BIKER
Ned Overend
With six USA Cycling Mountain Bike national championships, two Xterra triathlon world championships, and membership in both sports' halls of fame, Overend, 51, could retire on top. Instead, he's competing in slick-tire sufferfests like the Mount Evans and Mount Washington hill climbs. In 2006, he finished second in both races, putting the hurt on cyclists 30 years his junior.

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LESSON LEARNED: When to back off.
Training works like this: Stress your body, recover, come back stronger than before. Repeat. "You need the recovery before you can improve," says Overend. "So knowing when to stop and knowing how long to recover are important." To get it right, learn to read your body. If you fall apart on the last repeat of a set of hill climbs, it's a sign. "Stop, go home, and recover," he says.
SECRET WEAPON: Cross training.
Overend says nordic skiing (he won January's Durango Langlauf 30km nordic race), winter trail running, and other sports keep him fit, prevent burnout, and balance muscle groups to protect against sport-specific injuries.

RAPID KING
Eric Jackson
A former Olympian and three-time (and reigning) world freestyle champion, Jackson, 43, literally rules the sport of whitewater kayaking. He's been a nationally ranked kayaker 18 years running.
LESSON LEARNED: Commitment.
Jackson paddles every day. "I never feel like I want to take the day off just because I want to take the day off," he says. Translation: If you want to be the best, then it isn't enough to love a sport. You need to love doing everything it takes to get on top. That includes training on and off the water, and even traveling to and from competitions.
SECRET WEAPON: Fun.
Jackson says most people approach sports the wrong way by always focusing on the desired result: the win. "A competition is just to show off how hard you've been playing. If you're doing it every day for the fun factor, the events are just part of the deal. It takes the pressure off," he says.

BREATHING MACHINE: Multisport champ Steve Ilg outside Flagstaff, Arizona (Tom Fowlks)