About Midlife Athlete
Hi, my name is Derek and I am the founder of Midlife Athlete. The idea to launch this website came from a desire to make a positive impact on the community during the COVID-19 stay at home orders. My hope is that it will serve as a source of inspiration and motivation for people to come out of the pandemic stronger and healthier, with a new outlook on life.
What started as a small undertaking, has turned into a global movement that is inspiring people athletes from all over the world. In the past year, I have had the honor of meeting and sharing their stories.
People who have overcome:
- Illness
- Addiction
- Injury
- Depression
- Obesity
- Trauma
- Anxiety
- PTSD
- Divorce
- Age barriers
- Stereotypes and Stigmas
And more. Ordinary people, often at a disadvantage for one reason or another, who are accomplishing extraordinary things.
About Me
Participating in endurance sports has changed my life and my goal is to show other people that it’s never too late to become an athlete – to dream big, set an extraordinary goal and change your life in a positive way. When you commit to something and believe in yourself, you can get into the best shape of your life and prove that anything is possible. With dedication, discipline and perseverance, there are no limits to what you can do and the heights you can reach.
I wouldn’t characterize myself as overly athletic growing up. After playing soccer in high school, the only cardio I did was walking around my college campus. My weight went from 165 to 185, as I had access to an unlimited meal plan and focused on setting new weightlifting PRs. After college, I joined the U.S. Air Force and as a basic training requirement, I had to get into better cardiovascular shape. I made it my goal to achieve the “Warhawk” Fitness Award, which consisted of running 1.5 miles in 8 minutes 55 seconds, 65 push-ups in a minute and 70 sit-ups in a minute.
After returning home, I continued running and found that I actually enjoyed it, however, many years would pass before I thought about it as a serious sport. The first race that I ever did was a 5K on Halloween in Hoboken, NJ. My goal was to run it faster than 20 minutes and I succeeded by 3 seconds. The rush of excitement was invigorating and I couldn’t wait to do it again. A few years later, I decided to do my first marathon. I chose the Twin Cities in Minnesota because I read it was a fairly flat course with beautiful scenery. The experience was incredible and I had a post-race high for two weeks. Over the next few years I completed marathons in NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago and Paris.
One day at work, I overheard one of my colleagues talking about the Ironman triathlon. I didn’t know much about it at the time. When I learned the race distances (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run), I thought he was insane for putting it on his bucket list. I told him that I could not imagine running a full marathon after swimming and biking so many miles. At the time, I honestly thought there was no chance that I could ever finish one and I specifically stated this during the conversation. I had zero swim experience and did not even own a proper bike. Fast forward two years and I completed my first Ironman at Lake Placid, finishing in 11 hours and 14 minutes. It was one of the best days of my life (my colleague still hasn’t completed one! Ha ha).
Participating in long distance endurance events has changed my life in more ways than I could ever have imagined, well beyond the physiological changes. It helped bring purpose, meaning and fulfillment into my life. It strengthened my grit and resilience, increased my confidence and mood, and boosted my ability to cope with adversity as well as overcome obstacles, among so many other positive benefits.
I am extremely passionate about meeting like-minded people in the running and triathlon communities, as well as encouraging other people to join in. My goal is to provide hope, inspiration and motivation for people to get involved.