I’m not trying to become the athlete I was at 20. I want to find out how fit I can become at 50.
I’m Chris Roper. I’m 48, live in Salt Lake City, Utah, and I’m a retired firefighter-paramedic turned tech guy and hybrid athlete.
A few years ago, I decided I didn’t want to spend the second half of my life simply getting older.
I wanted to get stronger.
I wanted to lose the weight I had been carrying.
I wanted to move better, feel better, and see what my body was still capable of.
What started as a weight-loss and strength-training journey has turned into something much bigger.
Today, I lift. I run. I bike. I swim. I race triathlons.
And I’m just getting started.
From losing weight to building capability
At my heaviest, I weighed around 290 pounds.
There was a time when walking through airports hurt. Running seemed almost impossible. Fitness was mostly about trying to change what I saw in the mirror.
That has changed.
I’ve lost more than 50 pounds, rebuilt a significant amount of strength, and slowly started adding endurance back into my life.
Now the goal isn’t simply to weigh less.
I want to be capable.
Strong enough to move weight.
Fit enough to run a half marathon.
Comfortable enough in the water to swim long distances.
Able to get on a bike and ride for hours.
And eventually capable of putting all three together for 140.6 miles.
That is the version of fitness I’m chasing.
365 Days of Consistency
On May 23, 2026, I started one of my 50 by 50 goals: track and complete some form of intentional fitness every day for an entire year.
Not 365 perfect workouts.
365 days of showing up.
Some days are heavy lifting sessions. Some are long rides, runs, swims, or brick workouts. Some are recovery sessions. And occasionally it’s 45 minutes on a terrible hotel exercise bike because that’s what the day gives me.
That’s part of the point.
Consistency isn’t very exciting most of the time.
But it changes you.
I share the good workouts, the bad workouts, the races, the setbacks, the things I’m learning, and the days when motivation has absolutely nothing to do with getting the work done.
Keep the strength. Build the engine.
For years, most of my training revolved around lifting.
I still love it, and I’m not interested in giving up the muscle and strength I worked hard to build just because I discovered endurance sports.
So I’m trying something different.
Keep the strength. Build the engine.
That means learning how strength training, running, cycling, swimming, recovery, nutrition, and fatigue all fit together.
I’m becoming a hybrid athlete one very imperfect training block at a time.
I’m not documenting this because I have all the answers.
I’m documenting it because I’m learning.
The road to Ironman
I raced triathlons back in 2006, and then life got in the way.
Twenty years later, I’m coming back.
The journey starts small and gets progressively bigger: sprint triathlons, longer running races, open-water swims, Olympic-distance racing and eventually the half-Ironman distance.
My major target for 2027 is IRONMAN 70.3 Utah.
Then, in 2028, I plan to take on my first full 140.6-mile Ironman at IRONMAN Montana.
I don’t know exactly what the person standing at that 2028 finish line will look like.
That’s one of the reasons I want to get there.
50 by 50
This journey is also part of something I call 50 by 50.
The idea is simple: I want to arrive at 50 stronger, leaner, more athletic, more capable and more willing to challenge myself than I was when I started.
There are races and adventures on the list, but the real goal isn’t checking boxes.
It’s becoming someone capable of doing the things on the list.
I don’t want to reach 50 thinking about everything I used to be able to do.
I want to be excited about what I can do next.
My Story Continues
There’s another reason some of these miles matter.
As I train toward my first full Ironman, I’m working toward 5,000 combined miles of swimming, cycling and running while raising $10,000 for NAMI and suicide prevention.
The campaign is called My Story Continues.
Because fitness has become about more than getting stronger or finishing races.
Sometimes continuing the story is the victory.
Why Just Roper?
This site used to be called Reset and Roam.
That name made sense for an earlier chapter of my life, when I was trying to figure out what came next.
But eventually I realized I didn’t need a theme.
I just needed to tell the story.
So this became Just Roper.
This isn’t a site about becoming an elite athlete.
I’m not pretending to be a fitness expert, endurance coach, or professional triathlete.
I’m a 48-year-old guy figuring out how far he can push himself while still having a career, relationships, responsibilities, setbacks, sore muscles and a normal life.
That’s what you’ll find here.
Strength training. Running. Cycling. Swimming. Triathlon. Gear. Nutrition. Recovery. Races. Mistakes. Progress.
And a lot of showing up when showing up isn’t particularly interesting.
If you’re trying to become stronger, healthier or more capable after 40, follow along.
Maybe we’ll figure some of this out together.
Stronger today. Bigger tomorrow.
Subscribe to Just Roper and follow the journey to 50, one workout, one race and one mile at a time.