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
??????