A few years ago, I ran a series of races and felt pretty good about my performance, until I showed the results to a friend. He immediately noticed something I’d missed:
I was running the second half of every race slower than the first.
“You’re doing it backwards,” he said. “The goal is to run the second half faster. If you’ve prepared well and paced yourself right, the second half should be your strongest.”
That insight stuck with me. I think about it often.
Our culture prizes youth, and for good reason. There’s real glory in those early years: boundless energy, open horizons, a future stretching out full of possibility. It’s an exhilarating season, even though it’s filled with stress and uncertainty.
But I wonder if we’ve badly misjudged the later years. We frame them as a time to ease up, slow down, and coast toward the finish. I think we have it exactly wrong.
What if a man’s later years are meant to be his strongest?
What if they’re not for winding down, but for our greatest contribution? If we’ve prepared well, the second half should be when we run our best race.
What if a man’s later years are meant to be his strongest?
Let me explain what I mean.
You Will Experience Decline
Let’s start with what we can’t avoid: physical decline comes with age. Ecclesiastes 12:1-6 paints a vivid picture of old age as a gathering storm, a house slowly breaking down.
Hands tremble. Vision dims. Strength fades.
No matter how well we eat, how much we exercise, or how carefully we live, we can’t escape this reality. Our bodies will weaken. It’s happened to every man before us, and it will happen to us.
According to Arthur Brooks, this decline starts earlier than we think: “Here is the reality: in practically every high-skill profession, decline sets in sometime between one’s late thirties and early fifties.”[1] We work hard to acquire skills, and they make us successful, but we can expect a significant decline to come as soon as this season of life.[2]
Paul puts it bluntly:
Our outer selves are wasting away (2 Corinthians 4:16).
Every man past forty knows exactly what he means. We can slow the decline, but we can’t stop it. Decline is coming for all of us.
But that’s only half the picture.
You’re Also Being Renewed
Paul doesn’t stop at physical decline.
“Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).
While our bodies inevitably weaken, something else can be happening:
A deep, daily spiritual renewal that far outweighs what we’re losing physically.
I’ve seen this firsthand.
Without exception, the people who’ve shaped my life most profoundly have been older believers. When I was young, I could outrun every one of them. I had more energy, better reflexes, fewer aches. But they possessed something I didn’t:
A depth of soul, a settled strength, a hard-won wisdom that can’t be rushed.
That’s why you can run the second half of life better than the first, not physically but spiritually. Your later years can be your years of greatest impact. Think of the wisdom you’ve gained, the character you’ve developed, the faith you’ve tested and found true. Your later years are when it all comes together. This is when you run your strongest race.
A Plan for Later Years
As you get older, expect physical decline. Try to hold it off as long as possible, but be realistic: you’ll never be able to keep up with those who are young.
But refuse to believe that your best years are behind you.
Instead, ask God to allow you to run the best part of your race in the later years. Keep growing in your relationship with the Lord. Cultivate genuine relationships with those younger than you. Love them well. Invite them into your life not as a project, but as friends. Share honestly about what God has taught you through decades of following Him, through successes and failures alike.
By your 60s and 70s, you’ve accumulated something irreplaceable: decades of experience and judgment forged only through time. You likely enjoy stronger emotional regulation, richer relationships, and a deeper capacity for meaningful connection. The pressure to prove yourself has lifted.
Share honestly about what God has taught you through decades of following him, through successes and failures alike.
You’ll have greater freedom. Use it intentionally.
You’re now a man who can now synthesize a lifetime of learning into wisdom that genuinely serves others. Yes, you may have more doctor’s appointments. But you also have more to offer than ever before.
Don’t be a man who wastes these years.
They may prove to be your most fruitful. Plan with God’s help to make the second half of your race the best half.
[1] Brooks, Arthur C. From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life, Kindle Edition, pg 4.
[2] Ibid., p. 22.
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