We all know walking is just about the most perfect exercise.

Out the door, one foot in front of the other, 30 to 50 minutes – three or more times per week and you’re on your way to feeling fit.

I joined the Rosedale Walking Group, to be healthier, but more importantly, I wanted to connect with other women. And, I was lucky. I met a small group of feisty and inspiring women – ages from 30s to 70s – at the Rosedale Running/Walking Room in Toronto.

Together, we learned about proper shoes, bras, nutrition, stretches, core work, etc. We all knew some of this stuff, but we learned new things about our own bodies in a different context. We shared health and fitness tips, stories and we learned about each other’s lives.

Our clinics started with short walks, but we quickly progressed to hill training and longer walks.

That’s when everything changed.

We became more deeply committed to the walking, training for races and to each other. The group’s energy propelled us all forward. We entered races in our own city (Toronto), Chicago, Spain and two women from our group traveled to Greece for the 2500th Anniversary of the Olympic Marathon!

How did our group progress from walking 5K to half-marathons and beyond?

The “Secrets” of the Rosedale Walking Group:

1. Stay in the moment – breathe, look around, feel the joy
2. Talk about food, flowers, families, books, movies, the weather – keep it light
3. Avoid politics – for the most part
4. Observe Lucy’s Rule – the longer the walk, the more details needed per story
5. Plan your vacations around walking – see the world in a new way
6. Enter a race – raise money for a cause, reap the admiration of family and friends
7. Keep walking – feel positive about yourself!

As our wonderful coach, Donna Foster-Larocque says: “Stay Active and Anything is Possible.”

When I decided to sign up for the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers 60K two-day event in Toronto, I knew I would have to train. I hadn’t done very much about exercise in a long time. I had not been motivated. I thought all my little aches would just get bigger/worse. My damaged discs would rebel. I was wrong.

Two things happened that made me change my outlook. First, I decided that at 65 I had to do the walk to honor my mother who had died of cancer at 65. Second, I had read Suzanne’s chapter – “Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes” – many times. It applies to so many parts of our lives. I can’t count how many times I have said that phrase in my head. So I began my training.

I started walking and it just got easier and easier. The walks got longer and longer, and I realized after I had walked 37.5K with my group that could definitely do the 60K walk in September. I did not start fundraising until I made significant progress in the training. But, now I feel confident about that too.

Last Sunday, I completed my first Half Marathon race (3:13.24) and, I think I’m making progress in other aspects of life too. One woman I met during the race said, that her goal had been to do 12 half marathons by age 68. I was still feeling pretty good in the middle of the race – on what was a very hot day – so I decided maybe I can do 12 by the time I am 68!

Now, I can also start a new chapter in Suzanne’s book, “You Do Know What You Want to Do.”

*My Bib for the race has “Cindy” on it because I inherited her spot. She sprained her ankle on a visit to New York.

**Betsey, my best friend from college said, I look ebullient in both the “before” and “after” photo. Marty, my husband, is my official photographer.

Note – If you want to train for a race or really enjoy walking – join a group. It is so much more fun and empowering to walk with a group of women. I walk with the Running Room in Toronto.

For information on the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers, please visit: www.endcancer.ca

Today, it is 25 years since my mother, Wilhelmine “Mimi” Lippert died of inflammatory breast cancer at age 65. It was a beautiful morning, just like today!

We had spent three days with her while she was lying in a coma in our living room as family and friends came to say farewell. She was leaving us and we were encouraging her to let go. She had stayed through her wedding anniversary on April 20th and that of my brother and sister-in-law’s on April 21st. It was time.

And, this year at age 65, it is the right moment for me to participate in the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers. I am doing it to honor my mother and all the women who have struggled with cancer – the survivors and the women whose fight, like my mother’s, continue to inspire us. We have made progress on behalf of breast cancer, but so much more remains to be done for all women’s cancers. When my mother died we created a fund at Ms. Magazine for health and science reporting. Since 1985, so much has been written on the subject, so many women have told their stories. And, we have come together again and again asking for, demanding, pushing for research that will find the cure.

The Weekend to End Women’s Cancers will benefit all of things that will make a difference – from care giving to research, and just as important, it will bring thousands of us together to reach these goals and to celebrate life.

The morning my mother first called me to say that her left breast had become swollen, red and blue-ish/purple, I had to put the phone down for a moment. I went to the freezer in my kitchen got the ice cube tray and put some on my forehead. I thought I was going to faint…my heart was already breaking. Days later, when we heard the diagnosis, we were shocked. I had never heard of inflammatory breast cancer. I began calling around the country for solutions, treatments. She did everything. Not just the mastectomy, chemo and radiation – she did visualizations, reading (I bought travel books to take her far away…), a photo of the beach in the Hamptons helped, my brother and sister-in-law took my parents to Florida (my mother had always wanted to see the Space Center), we went to restaurants although she couldn’t really eat, and after checking around for a wig made with real hair (as gorgeous as her own), we settled on one from the Eva Gabor Collection – which highlighted her spectacular blue eyes and her smile!

As usual on this morning, I am looking at a photo of my mother with tears in my eyes. But, this year I feel her looking down on me – on all of us – with a smile and with joy! She would love the idea, the energy and commitment of everyone involved with the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers.

Last night, I trained on Poplar Plains Road (8 times up that hill!) with a group from the Running Room, and I am already walking almost 20K. I feel like I can do the two-day, 60K walk! That means I am definitely ready to begin my fundraising campaign today!
My goal is $2,500. for the two-day walk.

Karin Lippert

The Shopper’s Drug Mart
Weekend to End Women’s Cancers
Canada – September 11 -12, 2010

The Weekend to End Women’s Cancers – across Canada – will benefit The Princess Margaret Hospital (Toronto). The hospital is doing critical work at the Campbell Family Institute – breakthrough research, services, and care in the battle to end both breast and gynecologic cancers.

Our slogan for the weekend is: Cure One. Cure All. It is a two-day, 60K walk (or a person can do 30K in one day). In Toronto, more than 5,000 women and men join together for the walk. I am told it is a life-changing experience. I believe it. I know that when we all come together we are powerful – we can bring about change and a cure for all. I believe in their mission – it is everyone’s mission.

For information and to find out more about weekend, please visit: www.endcancer.ca

One of the fun things authors get to do for the paperback edition of their book is work with the publisher on a Reader’s Guide for Book Clubs. The publication date for “Fifty is the New Fifty: 10 Life Lessons for Women in Second Adulthood” is March 30th.

In advance of the publication, we’re posting the Plume Edition Reader’s Guide here. Many women have told me the book inspired numerous conversations with their sisters, mothers and friends. I hope the guide leads to even more sharing, laugher and intimacy. And, that you’ll share your thoughts on this site.

INTRODUCTION

“A Circle of Trust is a Must for Women”
Like the “Circle of Trust” Suzanne describes in Fifty is the New Fifty, book clubs give women the opportunity to be together – to read and share stories, to find community and support and laughter (plus scrumptious food and lots of wine!). That is how we help each other invent the rest of our lives.

In her first book, Inventing the Rest of Our Lives, Suzanne identified Second Adulthood as “a new stage of life that women are defining as they live it.” With Fifty is the New Fifty, she expands on earlier themes and captures the exuberance, personal breakthroughs, life changing moments, and stories of friends, family members, and countless women she has met on this journey.
Rich with expert voices, up-to-date scientific research, and Suzanne’s personal insights, this book inspires an important conversation about a life experience women describe as reinvention – and mainstream media often dismisses as “aging” (read “invisible”).

Fifty is the New Fifty: Ten Life Lessons for Women in Second Adulthood is a distillation of insights, anecdotes and wisdom from women like those in your reading group. Sharing personal anecdotes is the way we empower each other, so review the ten lessons and decide which ones resonate with you. Like each of our lives, every conversation about our lives is different.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Happy (?) Birthday

On the opening page of Fifty is the New Fifty, Suzanne says, “Some people think the reinvention process means, ‘Fifty is the new thirty!’ as if the reward for what is a major shift in outlook is a new lease on youth.” Not so; in fact, she continues, women fifty, sixty and seventy are happy where they are and wouldn’t want to turn the clock back. Have the members of your book club talked about your ages with each other? Have you celebrated milestone birthdays together? What has moving on from fifty been like for each of you?

Have you heard yourself say “I don’t care what other people think any more”?

Most women find themselves liberated by the feistiness that comes with the new territory. Can you remember the first time you spoke up in a situation in which you would have kept quiet before? How did it make you feel? Discuss the way other peoples’ opinions influence our behavior.

Do you want to say “NO!” when they try to seat you and your friends at the back of the restaurant?

Suzanne says that most women have grown up being encouraged to say “yes” (except, of course, to sex). But, by fifty many of us are finding the courage to say, “NO!” It is scary but very exhilarating moment to hear yourself say: “No! I don’t want to do that!” “No! I don’t like you.” Can you think of a situation(s) that made you feel empowered when you said: “No?”

Are you a risk-taker?

Most women in Second Adulthood grew up when girls were expected to play by very restrictive rules. Can you remember occasions when you felt held back? Not taken seriously? Discouraged from trying to do something dangerous or different? How do you feel about taking on a big challenge today?

What effect did the Women’s Movement have on your life?

Sports, professions, language, fashion, life styles have all changed for women in the last forty years. Many of the changes have been controversial. Which have most impacted you? How are the prospects for your daughters (and sons) different from yours at their age?

How do you feel about changes taking place in your body?

For women, our bodies are the front line in the confrontation with the “age is a disease” notion. How we care for our bodies is one of our major responsibilities. But, sometimes when a showdown with our body happens, Suzanne reminds us, the best response is laughter. What are some of the body issues you have resolved? And haven’t resolved? What is the most hilarious revelation about your aging body?

Does your to-do list include you?

How many times have you postponed something as simple as washing your hair or reading a book because family needs come up that push you off your own agenda? Have you made any adjustments to reclaim time for you? Have you begun to think about doing unto yourself as you have for others?

What about your work future?

Work is very important to many women’s lives, and as Suzanne points out, the notion of “retirement” is put on the table just as many women are hitting their stride professionally and many others are reentering the workforce. Plus, the general economy is a major factor. What is your experience in the workplace? What are your expectations for work in the future? Would things look different if you went from being a partner to being alone–or vice versa?
If you are changing, how is your marriage doing? 
As women are recalibrating all of their relationships, a long-term marriage can, for the first time in years perhaps, move to the front burner. The emotional pot is simmering. How has your marriage changed over time? Have you grown closer or further apart? Is there ongoing struggle in your marriage? If so, is it about power and decision-making? Money? Sex? Would you say that your definition of love has changed?

Which Life Lesson in Fifty is the New Fifty is most meaningful to you? Which one do you want to work on?

The release of a report suggesting that women should begin regular mammograms at 50 instead of forty shouldn’t obscure the fact that women over fifty should most definitely be conscientious about scheduling annual mammograms:

Here is what I wrote last month (see “Five Ways to Make Fall Work for You – Remember Good Health is about Maintenance):

“Older age is the single greatest risk factor for breast cancer in women. According to the American Cancer Society (1999), breast cancer risk increases from 1 in 67 at age 40 to 1 in 25 at age 70, and the incidence continues increasing to age 80. More than one-half of all breast cancers occur in women age 65 or over. Mammography screening has been demonstrated to reduce breast cancer mortality, especially among women in the age group 50-74 compared with those without mammography.”

Barbara Glickstein’s analysis of the current controversy, posted on the Women’s Media Center website (www.womensmediacenter.com), is the smartest I’ve read yet:

“As a feminist health activist who has followed the debates over mammography since the technology was introduced in the 1970s, I’m convinced that the current controversy has resulted from the premature promotion of mammography to younger women. Both the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute had recommended mammography for women ages 35 and older—before any research supported the advice. There was considerable controversy then, and a widespread belief that the recommendation to extend screening to women under 50 depended less on evidence than on politics.

What the new guidelines state is that baseline mammography should start at 50, not at 40. They don’t say never do it from 40 to 50 but just don’t automatically do it. Dr. Susan Love stated it clearly, “Mammography is not a good tool for finding breast cancer in younger women and we need to put our efforts to finding something better. Young women’s breasts are more sensitive to low dose radiation and starting yearly mammograms at 40 will cause as many breast cancers as it will find. With age the breast sensitivity to radiation becomes less and mammograms become more accurate and so it becomes worth it.”

Read the entire article at www.womensmediacenter.com. The Women’s Media Center makes women visible and powerful in the media. Led by its president, Jehmu Greene, the WMC works with the media to ensure that women’s stories are told and women’s voices are heard.