Fifty for the year I turn 50

In my last post, I talked about a draft of my 50 things to do in the year I turn 50. I am now finalizing the list. Because of the schedule for some events is not yet out and there are few commitments I have regarding traveling for work, I am also establishing some alternatives that will take the place of any item I cannot complete for reasons such as money, time, schedule, weather, etc. I hope to blog a lot as I complete these events. If you have any ideas for alternatives, please comment!

My 50 Epic and Not so Epic Things to do during the year I turn 50

1. Commitment day 5k -- signed up and ready to go

2. Volunteer at a soup kitchen -- likely do this in spring/summer

3. Learn to play the banjo -- I have taken lessons and know how to play some notes but now I am going to get serious about it.

4. Two minute plank -- I have done a 100 seconds in the past but can comfortably do one minute...going to build up to 120 seconds

5. Republic Plaza Stair Climb -- event in February, signed up and money raised

6. Climb a 14er -- Attempted last year and got to 13,600 feet before being freaked out by the rock field. I am going to get to the top this year.

7. Take a cooking class

8. Photo a day for a year -- I will be happy with an average of five photos a week as a photo each day could be a bit stressful but I am going to shoot for a photo a day.

9. Steel Challenge

10. September 11th Stair Climb

11. Deadlift 200 pounds -- I can currently deadlift about 135-145 from the floor (multiple reps, not sure what my one rep max is); more from the rack

12. Hike in Moab

13. Tattoo of periwinkle to honor my sister's memory -- I already have the design, just need to find the artist.

14. Manitou Incline to the top four times.... I want to be 15 minutes faster than in the past -- I have to look up my times

15. Make soap

16. Volunteer at a no kill shelter or rescue

17. Paddle board

18. White water rafting -- This one scares me a lot.

19. Read Moby Dick

20. Write and share poetry

21. Triple Dog Dare -- Tried to do it this year but the weather did not cooperate for the trip.

22. Spend the day at the Metropolitan Museum and go through wings I never would in the past

23. 100 days sugar/caffeine free -- Going to start with a 21 day detox (with real food) in January. Indulged in a bit of gluten, dairy and sugar this holiday season as well as too much sugar. I need to get back to what I know makes me feel the best.

24. 5,000,000 steps -- I should get even more but this is more than 13,000 steps a day.

25. Ride a mechanical bull -- Tim wants me to send out save the date cards and another friend said I should use it as a fund raised for the 3 day walk in November. We will see.

26. Body wrap/mud bath -- This may not seem like a big deal but as someone that really does not like to be touch, it is WAY outside my comfort zone.

27. Pay for someone's lunch/Starbucks unexpectedly

28. Learn to make gluten free pasta from scratch

29. Do a pull up -- This is a pretty aggressive goal but I am working on it already.

30. Go fishing

31. Snowshoe -- Hopefully this will be the Romp to Stomp on March 1st

32. Mud run/obstacle run -- Maybe the Diva Dash again....or Dirty Girl.

33. Make sauerkraut -- Fermenting food scares me but I am going to try.

34. Volunteer at a local charity race

35. New River Gorge Bridge Walk in West Virginia -- Here is another one that really scares me. I am not a fan of heights.

36. Three day walk for Breast Cancer -- The fund raising part of this frightens me and definitely will make me step outside of the comfort box.
37. 25 burpees without rest (good form) -- Right now I can do about 8 to 10 in okay form. Need to get to work on them.

38. Run/walk half marathon -- I did a half in 2012. It was horrible. I almost quit. This time I want to be smarter about it. I will either do one in West Virginia or one in Wisconsin/Michigan with my brother.

39. Do Olympic distance triathlon -- I will likely do this as a non-event. That is, on my own at the gym. I am not sure I am ready for an actual event like this.

40. Visit Arkansas -- The next four kind of go together. If I visit these four states, I will have been to every state.

41. Visit Alabama

42. Visit North Dakota

43. Visit Hawaii

44. Eat raw oysters

45. Tent camp -- I miss camping.

46. See the sunrise at the ocean

47. Box jump (small box) -- TERRIFIED of this....totally a mental block when it comes to box jumps.
48. Koko Head trail hike in Hawaii or alternatively some sort of rock/cliff jump into the ocean, depending on where I stay.
49. Wear smaller jeans by December 31st -- I stopped setting weight loss goals a few years ago because of what they do to me mentally but I can definitely shoot to be wearing a smaller size in a year. I did it the past two years without issue.

50.Share a very expensive bottle of champagne -- I will be looking for volunteers for this item!

Alternate list

Take a Finnish Language class

Whale watch trip in zodiac boat 
Day out with a five year old, doing the things they want to do

Paint pottery

Climb the rock wall at the gym
Participate in a flash mob
?????? 

Machu Picchu will have to wait...

I toyed with the idea of making a big trip this coming year. After watching "A Football Life" episode about Steve Gleason (a New Orleans Saints player who is now living with ALS), I wanted to go to Machu Picchu to hike. It seemed like the right thing to do in 2014 and would be a challenge that I never thought I would take on. But I have been thinking more and more about 2014 and have decided that Machu Picchu will have to wait.

You see, in November of 2014, I turn 50 years old. For me, age has never been a big deal. I always think of all my friends and acquaintances being of the same age. I turned 30 with glee. A big surprise party was fun on my 40th. But I already feel like this new decade is going to be an issue. I guess in many ways, I thought I would have been doing epic things by the time I was 50. That I would be in a position that goals were being met. Now, don't get me wrong. I have done some things that, if I think about where I was a few years ago, amaze me but there is so much more I want to be able to do.

A friend at the gym asked me to participate in the Susan G. Komen Three Day Walk in San Diego. The walk is November 21st through the 23rd. I have long wanted to participate in an event like this but the funding raising aspect has always terrified me. I spoke with some friends and thought a lot about it. I signed up. I am committing to the fund raising and feel good about it. I also think that this will give me an opportunity to celebrate my sister's life. Even though it was not breast cancer that she was diagnosed with, I truly believe that if we can make progress with any type of cancer, it will go a long way in helping understand all types of cancer. More than anything, I want to honor my sister's memory.

This commitment then grew into a list of 50 things I want to do in the year I turn 50. I think this will help me ease myself into this new decade. Here is the current draft of my list. I do think some things will change over the next few days. There may also be some changes throughout the year (my list, my rules). If I can accomplish these things on this list, it will be an enormously fulfilling year. Some of these items I would do anyway but they are still things that I would never have considered doing a few years ago. Some of the items terrify me....but that's a good thing, right?

So, here is the draft of the list right now:

My 50 Epic and Not so Epic Things to do during the year I turn 50

1. Commitment day 5k (likely walking it as my ankle has been bothering me)

2. Volunteer at a soup kitchen

3. Learn to play the banjo

4. Two minute plank

5. Republic Plaza Stair Climb

6. Climb a 14er

7. Take a cooking class

8. Photo a day for a year

9. Participate in a flash mob

10. September 11th Stair Climb

11. Dead lift 200 pounds

12. Hike in Moab

13. Tattoo of periwinkle to honor my sister's memory

14. Finish the Manitou Incline 15 minutes faster than in the past (I have to look up my times)

15. Make soap

16. Volunteer at a no kill shelter or rescue

17. Paddle board

18. White water rafting

19. Read Moby Dick

20. Write and share poetry

21. Triple Dog Dare

22. Spend the day at the Metropolitan Museum and go through wings I never would in the past

23. 100 days sugar/caffeine free

24. Steel Challenge

25. Take a Finnish Language class

26. Paint pottery with a five year old

27. Pay for someone's lunch/Starbucks unexpectedly

28. Learn to make gluten free pasta from scratch

29. Do a pull up

30. Go fishing

31. Snowshoe

32. Mud run/obstacle run

33. Climb the rock wall at the gym

34. Make sauerkraut

35. Volunteer at a local race

36. Stair climb in another state

37. Three day walk for Breast Cancer
38. 25 burpees without rest (good form)

39. Run/walk half maration

40. Do Olympic distance triathlon

41. Visit the four states I have not yet been in (Arkansas, Alabama, North Dakota, and Hawaii)

42. Eat raw oysters

43. Tent camp

44. See the sunrise at the ocean

45. 5,000,000 steps
46. Box jump (small box)
47. Koko Head trail hike in Hawaii
48. New River Gorge Bridge Walk in West Virginia
49. Whale watch trip in zodiac boat
50. Wear smaller jeans by December 31st

Again this is just the first draft. In the next few days, I will be reviewing this list with the calendar to see what all is possible.

Machu Picchu will have to wait until 2015....but 2014 will still be a great year.