Here’s a fun and inspiring read that I gobbled up in a few nights (it would have gone even faster, but I had to fit it around a lot of “required” reading). Not Too Late: The Power of Pushing Limits at Any Age (consider looking for a copy here) by Gwendolyn Bounds tells her story of turning herself from a sedentary non-athlete into a highly competitive obstacle course racer, in the span of a few years – beginning in her late 40s!
The seeds of her obstacle-obsession are planted at a dinner party, when Bounds overhears an adult guest ask a young girl what she wants to be when she grows up. Bounds listens to the ambitious and exciting career plans the girl describes, and she realizes that nobody asks adults what they want to be or do next. In her mid-forties at the time, Bounds decides she doesn’t want to be done growing and challenging herself, so she Googles: “what are the hardest things you can do?” One of the top ten hits returned is the Spartan Race, and after rabbit-holing a bit, she goes to the Spartan.com website and signs up for the free “workout of the day” email. The rest is history… or at least, the rest is the story of this book – and of her continued pursuit of obstacle course racing excellence. Now in her early 50s (which is why she’s one of our role models!), she regularly places in the top three of her age group in races.
This is even more impressive because she never considered herself to be athletic, even in youth. And most of her professional career as a writer and editor was spent sitting. Though she was growing concerned about her vulnerability to what she calls the “midlife assassin” – the cascade of physical issues and problems that seem to start mounting when we hit our forties and fifties – that anxiety hadn’t jolted her into action… Not like the casual dinner party question did.
Not Too Late is entertaining and inspiring as it tells the story of Bounds’ growing obsession with Spartan racing, and her determination to master it. Her ability to do so – despite her lack of athletic prowess and her relatively late start – is what drives the central message of her book: it’s never too late to do something bold.
Now, a little reality check: it becomes clear through the book that Bounds has some resources not available to just anyone. She can afford to hire a personal coach, and to fly herself all over the country to attend Spartan training clinics that teach strategies and techniques for each obstacle in a race. She also has an extremely sympathetic spouse. (I’ve got the latter, but definitely not the former!)
But these advantages don’t diminish the hard work and determination that got her to first place for the 2024 Spartan Race US National Series in her age group (https://www.instagram.com/p/C_B0L_fvrWL/?hl=en). There are a lot of setbacks on the way, and she recounts them with honesty, humility, and humor. Grab this book and see if it gets you thinking about what’s next!
Now, while you’re here, check out some of the links I’ve been storing up.
First, keeping with the “Not Too Late” theme:
Also…
- Sleeping a little extra on our days off is really good for us, if we tend toward sleep deprivation the rest of the week (this one is a hard pill for me to swallow, because I want to eke every hour out of my weekly day off for stuff I can’t do the rest of the week!).
Lastly… how am I doing on my various fitness commitments? Not gonna lie: this turned into a disappointing summer of setbacks, with knee and foot problems that turned out to be my new (arthritic) normals. So my running plans are momentarily hamstrung (you’ll pardon the pun), and even my long-distance-walking ideas are on hold. But I’ve gotten back on the rower and, dang, it feels good. The scenery sucks (our basement), but that machine has never let me down. I also got my underutilized bike tuned up and put some plump new tires on it for Towpath and trail riding. Cardio will happen!
