Turning 50 - one year in advance

I just celebrated my 49th birthday, and decided that this year I'm going to prepare for turning 50 in style. My plan is to schedule a new physical event every month until the big day.

On June 2-3, I ran in the Green Mountain Relay, a 200 mile race from Jeffersonville to Bennington, VT, as part of a 12 person team. OK, we only had 11 people because one guy threw out his back a few days before the run. This is us to the left, celebrating our finish at Mt. Anthony Middle School in Bennington. I'm in the middle in the bright blue rain jacket.

Yeah, it rained. And it was hot. And humid. The race is held during the full moon, but you could never see the moon because of the rain and fog.

But the scenery between the raindrops was absolutely gorgeous, running along the spine of the Green Mountains from north to south. We passed (and stopped to play in) swimming holes, the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory (where we took a tour and sampled ice cream), serene town greens, a cow wandering along the dirt road, and 7 different covered bridges. You spend a lot of time driving and waiting in the van compared to the short amount of time spent actually running.

Each of us ran three sections, or legs (except for my three teammates who volunteered to each pick up an extra leg due to missing one runner). We started at 8:30 am on a sunny Saturday morning, and finished Sunday afternoon in the cold and wind. I met my teammates for the first time when we drove up to Burlington on Friday night. What a great group! Bennington College graduate students, a Navy guy and his wife from Connecticut, a sports massage therapist from Philly, a pharmacist from Dallas, 3 volunteers, a mixed-breed puppy, and a mechanical engineer living in Philly who's originally from Venezuela. Picture us divided into a mini-van, a 12-person van, and a station wagon (for the puppy). We ran, shared food and water, tried to sleep (I napped three hours total), ran some more, swapped stories, sprayed each other with bug spray, took turns driving and reading the map, took pictures, and kept on running.

My only relay experience prior to this was part of a 3-person half-marathon relay several years ago, and part of a 5-person marathon relay for the Vermont City Marathon about 5 years ago. This one was special because it lasted 30 hours and 13 minutes and covered 200 miles. Plus, I turned 49 years old less than 2 weeks later.

So the year-long celebration of turning 50 begins. I'm planning a triathlon for July, and perhaps a longer one for August. I want to run/walk at least one race with each of my sisters in their states (Michigan and Texas), and head back to my home state of Indiana (yeah, I'm a Hoosier) for a half-marathon in my home town of Valpo in the Spring.

Too many women fear getting older, thinking only about the wrinkles, gray hair, and decreasing estrogen levels. I'm planning on barreling right through this year, looking forward to every month that brings me closer to 50. There's a lot left to experience and accomplish; new places to visit; interesting people to meet; and adventures to be dared.

Stay tuned to find out more!