Any older guys here come back from a low point in life?

More things to life than running some arbitrary marker of time/distance. Why not enjoy life/your family and make incremental improvements in getting outdoors and your family?

After gaining 35 pounds I am now getting into the best shape of my life at almost 47. You just can't listen to your mind tell you that you can't do it. You can get into the best shape you have ever been in if you really focus

Going through it myself right now.

I'm going back to see my family therapist. She got me through the roughest period of my life about 6 years ago. Back then, she basically had me to tell her my life story (something I've never done for anyone before).

After that, she gave me a game plan and practical solutions to move forward, which I did. It only took 3-4 visits to fix a major life crisis. But your situation might be different depending on your circumstances.

I've recently reached out to her again, and I'll be scheduling an appoint with her this week as I've run into some new road blocks that I need to get through.

tl;dr - go see a family therapist bro... it'll transform your life for the better (and telling your life story to someone who's willing to listen is cathartic AF)

This thought would've never occurred to me, but I'm going to look into it this week - as it makes total sense, and aside from a few hundred bucks, doesn't seem like I'd have much to lose. Thanks bro.

Discipline your sleep, diet and your 1hr/day you time...be that 5am, noon ,or 10pm. I track everything so I can see the progress. Ie, goals for next week (mon-sun) g1, g2, g3. Tracking, for me, allows me to build consistency. Build the contingency b4 you need it. No way this week I can get 1hr of xx in each day, but I have a 10/15 min plan as a stop gap. Youtube - thenx-10 Min Fat Burning Workout | No Equipment - is my stop gap and also a good warm-up. I still need to scale it if I havent done it in a while. Reward yourself along the way and realize it will make you more present in your family life too. Realize the bites are small. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Anyone try to do this and feel they just don’t have the energy for it? Crash and burn after a few weeks?

It's never too late to turn things around, you just have to establish new goals. If you did all that stuff before you know what to do, how to do it, the thing to do now is adjust for age and life situation.

Step up to the plate and set a example for your 3 kid's. Get in shape and finish what you started.

You have the right idea already. Start S L O W and build gradually.

42 is not that old by the way and you can DEFINITELY get back in shape and compete. Some people don't start getting active until way later. You have a head start as muscle memory is real. Just pay attention to your body and don't injure yourself.

Take each day as a challenge to get a bit better. Train and rest when needed. Clean up your diet. Once you see improvement, it will spark you to move forward. Good luck!

You do have the energy for it. It just takes more time as you age. Plus life sometimes gets in the way, injuries, etc. Just start up as soon as you can after "crashing." We all do it. The only way to get better is to get back to training. Can't run? Walk, bike, swim, etc.