Fly like a Pig!
Well, I always said I would run a marathon before I was 50. In fact, for years and years I have said that I would be at my most powerful on my 50th birthday. It's easy to say that when your 50th is, say, 30 years away, and less easy when it is just beyond the snack food aisle.
Turns out, I have exactly 241 days to get powerful and marathonish. In celebration of my 50th birthday on August 16, 2009 (the 32nd anniversary of Elvis' death by the way), and with the understanding that continual learning keeps you youngish, I am devising a list of 50 things to learn at 50. Not all of them are big things–some are as simple as learning to fold a paper origami crane or knit a scarf or make palak paneer. I'd love your suggestions for things to add to the list. Better yet, things you can teach me to do in a short video, in case others want to learn the same thing! Other items on the list are more involved, like learn Spanish and sign language. And some involve a physical challenge, including to "lose 50 at 50" (well, there, I said it, out loud in front of god and everyone) and learn how to train for a marathon.
To get started on those last two, Emma and I are training to walk/run/crawl (whatever works) for the May 3, 2009, half-marathon in Cincinnati, the famous Flying Pig Marathon. As someone noted, we are actually running a Mara (half-a-marathon, get it?). And so, I'm inviting you to train with us and come to Cincinnati with us and/or train for an event in your neck of the woods. I just recently flew over Cincinnati and took photos to prove to you how flat the city is. See photo. Really. It's a marathon course that is friendly to those of us who are not Olympic runners, and even to those of us who, like me, will likely walk at least part or three-fourths of the course, panting and cursing the whole way.
Emma is going to design a 37days/LIAV Team t-shirt for those who sign up for the challenge, and for those who simply want to cheer us on (cheering is good). I'll post the design and info on ordering in January.
In the meantime, the Flying Pig people need to know if you are coming, so go here for info and to enlist in the marathon, if you are so inclined. You don't want to get closed out if the race fills up, now do you? And forfeit all those hours of sweating? Leave a comment to let me know you're registered on their official site. There are four intrepid humans in the group so far! We're staying in the Millennium Hotel (first hotel they list) and will arrange for a victory dinner somewhere in Cincinnati the evening after we have conquered the Mara and just before we go to the hospital, so plan to stay over on Sunday night if you can!
More details will be coming in the next few weeks! Until then, walk as much as you can. And dream of flying pigs.
