Speed Limit 55

Sammy Hagar performs "I Can't Drive 55" at Farm Aid in Champaign, Illinois on September 22, 1985. When Hagar did this song I was 28 with three daughters ages 6, 4 and 1. Times have changed a bit. I think I had as much hair as Hagar too.

A wonderful thing happens tomorrow, November 22, 2011, I move into a new age group for running and triathlon races, 55-59. I will be the youngest in the age group with my first race two days later, the Race With Grace in Hilton, NY. It is the 21st running of the race and will be my 20th time participating.

Interesting Facts and notions;
1. I turn 55, the former speed limit for the NY State Thruway. We used to think we were going fast when we got to 62 and had to watch for state troopers pulling over speeders. Now the speed limit (suggestion) is 65 and if you don't drive 70+ cars will run you off the road or ride three feet from your bumper, while they are on the cell phone and drinking coffee.
2. My birthday is on 11/22/11. A bit weird.
3. I was born on Thanksgiving Day and have been a turkey ever since.
4. My father retired from Eastman Kodak at 55, in 1985. I thought he was old. He is 81 and closing in on being retired longer than he worked there.
5. My children don't remember my father working at a real job.
6. Usually I feel like I am in my thirties, which is ridiculous. Fifty-five? That's someone old you read about in the paper wondering why he/she is acting like a young person instead of their real age.
7. Is it too late to begin another career- my third?
8. Hey, my kids don't remember me being anything but a librarian. I am old, having worked at Kodak for almost ten years before changing careers.
9. Advice - don't wear triathlon shorts to a public pool without checking to see if they have become threadbare.
10. Thanksgiving, with or without it being near my birthday, is still one of my favorite holidays.