Welcome to my blog, 50 in the Fifties! I am a 52 year old mom of two grown daughters. I just recently left a part time job that I held for 5 years and loved- working at a physical therapy office with senior citizens who have problems with walking and balance. I wanted to make room in my life for my next chapter- whatever that will be. And I wanted to be more available to my family- my aging parents, my grown but still growing girls, my husband of 27 years, my closest friends, and yes, the dog.
I have always been active and adore athletics and challenging myself. I love hiking, cycling, swimming, and especially soccer. I tolerate running but I’m working on my attitude towards that. In my job, I noticed that those seniors who stayed active and exercised, both aerobically and through strength training, aged BETTER. They remain happiest, most independent, most engaged, most alive. I want to do everything I can to give myself the best possible chance of aging well.
One day, probably during a bike ride, mind wandering where it will, I came up with the idea of completing an endurance event in each of the 50 states before I reach 60 years of age- and 50 in the Fifties was born. This was last summer- I’m terrible on the computer and not much for sitting still long enough to learn how to blog- but I got going right away on the active part- “bagging states.” The entries in this blog will detail my discoveries and achievements along the way.
Whenever possible, I want to find activities that teach me something about the state while I am sweating my way through the event. I need to listen to my body along the way, I will age, I will have injuries, I will have time constraints. And I lost 2 years in my fifties before even coming up with this idea. So here we go- if anyone has fabulous ideas for a particular state, please share. It starts…!
