Welcome to Second Half Stronger
Hey, I’m Greg, a 50 year-old marathon runner and the author of Negative Split and The Old Dog Manifesto. On this blog, I share my thoughts and insights on fitness as I find myself in, most likely, the second half of my life. I want to encourage you to make health and wellness one of your life’s top priorities. I’m willing to concede it shouldn’t be the top priority, but what about 1-B?Here’s my belief: you’re either going through crazy times, have gone through crazy times, or will go through crazy times. If you’re over forty, there’s also a chance you have let health and wellness slip by the wayside. Have career and kids have been wearing you out for a while now? Are you always tired and ready to veg out in front of the television after work each day? I’d also be willing to bet your day job is not what you thought it would be at this stage in life.
Having said that, I can’t promise solutions to any of the nuttiness you’re experiencing. Heck, I haven’t figured out my own battles. What I can say, though, is that you can turn your fitness level around and can achieve more than you believe right now. By returning to (or developing for the first time?) a healthier, fit lifestyle, you can take life’s body punches much better.
So, who is this guy?
A native South Carolinian, I grew up in Greenville County. From first grade through high school, I was a sports nut. I loved the traditional big three – baseball, basketball, and football (in that order). I had my sights set on playing college baseball. When that dream didn’t work out, I pursued golf with even more passion than baseball, pouring way too much time and energy into it.
Eventually, I had a low handicap, which came with grand delusions of playing the Senior Tour one day. Life happened, though, and the golf clubs disappeared into a dark corner of the garage.
In late 2008, I found myself out of shape, sedentary, and facing the possibility of unemployment. My forties weren’t starting out too well. Fortunately, I rediscovered an old treadmill and started putting one foot in front of the other. A year later, after surviving the layoff, I ran my first marathon.
After that first marathon, I could have said, “OK, bucket list item. Check. I’m done.” But I didn’t. Other marathons followed, and I kept improving. Weird, I thought. I was becoming a faster runner, despite being in my mid-forties. By the fifth or sixth marathon, bolstered by my improvement, I developed a new goal – qualify for the Boston Marathon. More grand delusions?
There’s a whole lot to cover about that journey, too much for an About Me page, but I’ll cover those topics along the way in this blog. For now, let’s just say at age 50, I didn’t find myself on the first tee of a Champions Tour event (previously known as the Senior Tour). Instead, I was standing at the starting line of the 2018 Boston Marathon.
Over the last 10 years, I have learned alot about myself, fitness, and battling Father Time. I was no great runner at age forty. Heck, I wasn’t a runner at all. I’m pretty sure I didn’t know how far a 5K was (3.1 miles, if you don’t know).
Now, though, I’m a Boston Marathon finisher, and I want to be even better. I want you to be better, too. Please stick around. I know I can help you can make your second half stronger.
Thanks,
Greg
P.S. – Email me here.
