Not Too Late: The Power of Pushing Limits at Any Age

Journalist Bounds (Little Chapel on the River) sets out to dismantle the notion that “after a certain age... the time for ambition has passed” in this energetic offering. After overhearing a fellow partygoer ask a preteen what they wanted to be when they grew up, Bounds—then in her mid-40s—found herself contemplating a future that seemed to promise fewer and fewer surprises. Seeking a challenge, she found obstacle course racing, an “endurance adventure sport” that combines running with “a litany of... challenges” such as spear-throwing. Bounds frames her quest to complete a race in chapters that correspend to various obstacles competitors must surmount and the lessons they taught her. For example, a “dunk wall” that racers must swim under is instructive in overcoming fear, both on the course and off—as when she tackled her anxiety following surgery to remove a malignant melanoma by seeking out therapy. Interwoven with interviews with scientists and philosophers about exercise and aging, Bounds’s account of her triumphant path from a “did not finish” to multiple medals inspires, even if her insights are occasionally predictable: “to finish, you don’t have to be fast.... You just need to be able to gut it out, one step at a time.” Still, readers will be more than motivated to lace up their sneakers. (June)