Bucket List

I think everyone should write down a "bucket list". You know, the list of things you want to do/see/accomplish before you start pushing up daisies. I rarely get anything accomplished unless it is put on paper. It never fails, if I go into the grocery store for three things but only wrote two on my shopping list, I will walk out of the store without that third thing. So for me actually writing these things down is important, seeing them makes them real. My bucket list has never been very long, and it mostly contains places I want to go. There are five items that have been on this list since I first wrote it down in college:

1. Go to Florence and see the statue of David
2. Travel to all 50 states (I have 10 to go)
3. Visit the Louvre
4. Skydive
5. Go snorkeling in Belize

I have crossed a few things off this list in the past few years since I was able to complete them; like eating Sushi in Japan and completing a triathlon. I've also taken a few things off because they seemed like a good idea when I wrote them in my twenties, but now, not so much; like spending a summer following Pearl Jam on tour and getting a Chinese symbol tattooed on my foot. 

I remember several years ago my friend Steph was training for her first marathon. I recall asking her, "why on earth do you want to run a marathon?!?" She simply replied, "it's on my bucket list." I told her running a marathon was never going to be on my bucket list. I mean seriously, bucket list items were supposed to be fun, bucket list items were supposed to make you feel alive! Nope, I had no room on my bucket list for running an agonizing 26.2 miles or even more, training to run for an agonizing 26.2 miles. Eating pizza in Italy and drinking champagne in France sounded WAY BETTER!

Until last year. When I started running it was seriously just so I could finish the 3.1 miles that was required to complete the triathlon I wanted to do that summer. I really had no intention of falling in love with running, or that I would ever run more than a 5K. But, you've all heard my story; somehow running became a part of who I am, and running a marathon became part of my bucket list.

6. Run a Marathon

When I started to tell people I wanted to run a marathon there was no shortage of advice. From which race I should do, to when I should do one, to which training plan I should follow. While I love getting tips from those who have been there, I kinda just wanted a chance to mull this decision over. I mean, I actually think I started to tell people I wanted to do one in the hopes that someone might talk me out of it! What was I thinking?!? I've only been running for a year, there is no way I should be doing a marathon yet. But one day, out on a run with my BRF, she told me. "Your body can do it, you just need to tell your brain you can do it". And she was right. My brain had told my body for 42 years that it couldn't run at all. My brain had been holding me back for a long time. My body COULD do it, I mean, it had already done it. In the year since I started running, I racked up 583 miles, that's over 22 marathons right there! I wasn't going to let my brain talk me out of this one. So I signed up that day. And didn't give it another thought until this week. This week I started training for Grandma's Marathon, which will be on June 20th, 20 weeks from now. When I really looked at my training plan I started to freak out. My brain started asking all kinds of questions; "When am I going to find time to do all this running?",  "Wait, I have to run 21 miles in one training day?", "How the heck am I supposed to do all this running when it's so freaking cold out?". My brain started telling me I can't do it. And I know what you're thinking, you're thinking I'm going to write "Well, I told my brain to just shut up and get going". Um, not really. I actually believe my brain a little bit. I have no idea if I can work up to running 26. 2 miles in 20 weeks. I've never run more than 13.1 all together before. I might not be able to do it. But you know what I did tell my brain? I said "I'm going to train for it, I'm going to be smart about it, I'm going to do what I can to keep plugging away and stay injury free." I might not be able to do every long run the plan calls for, I might have to skip some mid-week workouts because of my schedule, and I'm okay with it. That's the thing about bucket lists. We never know if we are going to get those things done. We might book that flight to Florence and then have it canceled because of bad weather. But that doesn't mean we never book that flight. Bucket list items are big because they should take a little work to get there. That is why you put a marathon on your bucket list. It's something to strive for, to work for, and sometimes you might not get there on your first try. I've had five items on my bucket list for 23 years, THEY haven't gone away just because I haven't been able to make them happen yet. And neither will this one. Because while I really hope I can cross #6 off my list this summer, I just never know what my brain, or my body have in store for me. But I'm looking forward to giving it all I've got.

Now, if someone could just tell me how to make my brain earn enough money for that trip to Belize...