It would not crush me to "leave my ego at home" if I were alone. But I would probably go with my girlfriend, and she is younger than me by a lot, fit as a fiddle (rock hard abs), and full of energy, if not bursting with it. To turn back halfway up would be an admission of wimphood while with my lady, which is not going to happen. We did a recent trip to Maine together, and her energy level was overpowering, but also uplifting and raised my own energy level. I had to stop drinking in order to keep up with her the last two days of the trip. The first two days I was drinking with her, heavily, but I was getting gassed as the day went on, so I stopped.
I actually discussed a trip to Monadnock with her and initially she did not want to go after I told her bears had been spotted in the area (although not on Monadnock trails and there were no specific bear-human encounters as opposed to sightings from afar). I then convinced her it would be fine if we brought bear spray and we could spray any bears that got too close to us. This ameliorated her concern and she agreed to take the trip, although we postponed in favor of 2 other trips, first to Lake George and then the more recent one to Portland, Maine.
I guess I will have to hit the stairmaster.