Tim McGraw Trades Shots for Sprints

Tim McGraw is a changed man. He quit drinking more than two years ago, after years of living the party lifestyle out on the road. The husband of Faith Hill and father of three doesn't even know how he survived the early part of his career, but these days are definitely much easier to handle.

"Ten years ago you could recover from the road a lot quicker," Tim tells CMT. "In the past, to get warmed up for a show, everybody would do a shot or something. It warmed you up for the show, got you loose, and you're ready to go. I found myself halfway through the show before I really felt like I was into the show [and] felt like I was really able to enjoy it. Then by the time the show was over, I felt like I really wanted to keep going ... hence why you kept going after the show by having beers."

Tim credits his wife as the person who saved his life when he felt it was spiraling downward. "Faith has kept me alive," Tim tells People magazine. "She's saved [me] in a lot of different ways -- from myself more than anything. She's loved me through times when I didn't love me. I can go down a dark road sometimes, when you're not feeling good about yourself -- and she pulls me out."

These days before the show, Tim does something else to get the blood flowing -- he goes running with his band and crew.

"It's such a great warm-up to go get a three mile run in, then come in and sort of go real quick on stage right after that," says the superstar. "You're already warmed up, you get going into the show and you're fired up. Everything's pumping, and by the end of the show it's done, and it's been a good deal. It's tough out there. It beats you up pretty good. I don't want to do anything to help that along. You do everything you can to preserve yourself and to keep yourself strong for the things that you want to accomplish in life. That's sort of where I'm at."

Tim is currently running down the road with his Southern Voice tour featuring special guests Lady Antebellum and Love and Theft.