2. Complete a 10K. Complete!

I have only entered one 10K since I started running. I never really thought about it much, considering a 10K is only 6.2 miles and I had already completed 3.1. I guess the opportunity to enter a 10K just never really came up. At least not until my brother in law, Shawn, ran in the World Famous Camp Pendleton Mud Run in 2009.

He had entered in the race with a group through his work. We had gone to cheer him on. It looked awesome! As we waited at the finishing line, watching people swim through mud, Rachel and I knew that this was something we wanted to do and decided that we would enter the following year.

Sometime between his race in June and sign ups at midnight on January 1st we had also talked Patrick (my boyfriend at the time, now fiance) to enter with us. We didn't have enough people to sign up as a "team", so we signed up as individuals. But that didn't keep us from having fun with it.

I guess I didn't learn from the 5K I entered, but we didn't start training until about 2 weeks before the race. We kept saying we had plenty of time and then there wasn't a lot of time left. We trained as much as we could those two weeks though. It was the longest distance I had to train for and the most intense training my sister put me through. I hit so many mental and physical walls.

But it was worth it. In June 2010 we ran in the World Famous Mud Run. We had so much fun the day of the race. It was intense, but it was the most fun I've had while running. We were sprayed by hoses, swam across a lake, ran up "suicide hill", climbed over walls, crawled through tunnels and swam through mud pits. Who wouldn't have fun doing that?!?

(me, Patrick and Rachel)

(Patrick and me)

(Patrick)

I have yet to run another 10K since this one, however we have signed up to be in the World Famous Mud Run for 2012. I cannot wait to complete this race again. This time we'll be better prepared. Rachel and I are already in the process of training for the LA Marathon, so we'll be ready for 6.2 miles as well as all of the obstacles we'll encounter.

(Rachel, me and Patrick enjoying our after race carbs)

And, of course, we'll be ready for the after party! A nice cold beer really is the way to refresh after a run!

1. Complete a 5K. Complete!

I completed my first 5K on March 27, 2010. It was the 25th Annual Agoura Hills Great Race and it was on my 25th birthday. I thought it would be fun and I thought 3.1 miles wouldn't be too difficult.

I was wrong.

It could be possible that the amount of time I had to train compared to the amount of time I actually trained had a lot to do with how I felt that day. It could be possible that the amount of running my sister, Rachel, told me we would do compared to how much we actually did had a lot to do with how I felt. It could also be that I ate oatmeal for breakfast. Whatever excuse I want to use, the look on my face when I crossed the finish line is priceless.

(me and Rachel crossing the finish line. I'm the one on the far left in the red hat)

What happened that day was something I will never be able to describe. I hated running so much prior to and while we were running the race and yet it sparked something inside of me. I loved the racing bib, I loved the finishers metal, I loved running across the finishing line, I loved completing something and when I finished I realized that I love running.


Completing this race with my sister formed a bond between us. Although she had completed other races before, this was our first 5K together and it was not only an accomplishment for me to complete it, but it was an accomplishment for her as our finishing time gave her a new personal record. (We have gone on to run other races together including 10Ks, half marathons, and our upcoming full marathon).

I will always be thankful to her for pushing me to do something I didn't want to do. If it hadn't been for her I would have never known I had a passion for something I thought I hated.

(me and Rachel)

Since this first 5K race I have completed a total of four 5Ks. My most recent 5K was this last Thanksgiving in our local Turkey Trot. I wanted to beat my original personal record (from my first 5K) of 36:24 and this was my first opportunity to enter a race by myself. I crossed the finish line with a time of 34:16.

My next attempt for a personal record in a 5K will probably be next Thanksgiving on the same course.

First Post

Creating a bucket list was more difficult than I thought it was going to be. That being said, I'm having a blast adding to it. I really had to let go of all of my fears about money and distance and just realize that this list is about a lot more than completing it.

I know for a fact that I will never complete everything on my list, and I'm 100% okay with that. My silly dream of writing this bucket list is to inspire my daughter to accomplish her dreams. In fact, I think it'd be a great story if she were to one day take my bucket list and complete the things that I wasn't able to and add on some of her own.

The following is my list as of today. I would like to continue to add to it, despite my fiance's constant teasing about how long it is already. I've highlighted what I've already accomplished and I plan to make a separate post about those.

1. Complete a 5K
2. Complete a 10K
3. Complete a half marathon
4. Complete a marathon
5. Completea tri-athalon
6. Complete the Goofy Challenge
7. Donate hair to Lock's of Love
8. Write a book
9. Learn to drive a stick shift
10. Go wine tasting
11. Ride a zipline
12. Ride in a hot air balloon
13. Learn to water ski
14. Horseback ride on the beach
15. Ride a mechanical bull
16. Learn to ski
17. Jump off a cliff into deep water
18. Swim with sharks
19. Swim with dolphins
20. Swim with sea turtles
21. Milk a cow
22. Ride a camel
23. Ride an elephant
24. Watch an animal being born
25. See killer whales in the wild
26. Visit the Grand Canyon
27. Visit the Galapagos Islands
28. See the Northern Lights
29. Visit the Amazon Rainforest
30. Visit Yosemite
31. Visit Yellowstone
32. Witness a meteor shower
33. Visit Mount Rushmore
34. Watch a sumo wrestling match
35. Go to Disneyworld
36. Take a pottery class
37. Fly a kite
38. Make a quilt
39. Complete a cross stitch
40. Get out of debt
41. Earn a black belt in martial arts
42. Be on the kiss cam at an Angel's game
43. Fly in a helicopter
44. Watch it snow
45. See the Rose Parade floats
46. Get a tattoo
47. Learn how to make sushi
48. Travel solo
49. Learn a new language
50. Write in a journal every day for a year
51. Read for 20 minutes every day for a year
52. Adopt a pet from a shelter
53. Go on a safari
54. Have my photography showcased
55. Climb up the Statue of Liberty
56. Go to the National Cherry Blossom Festival
57. Bike across the Golden Gate Bridge
58. Hit a bucket of balls
59. Volunteer at an animal shelter
60. Start a blog
61. Take one picture a day for a year 
62. Go to a World Series game
63. Try escargot
64. Go to Time's Square for New Year's
65. See a psychic
66. Mud Wrestle
67. Jump into a pool fully clothed
68. Go to Ireland
69. Go to Australia
70. Go to Japan
71. Go to Africa
72. Go to Italy
73. Bowl a perfect game
74. Win big in Vegas
75. Take a cake decorating class
76. Organize photos into albums
77. Make one recipe a week for a year
78. Go apple picking
79. Buy a piece of Tiffany's jewelry
80. Go to a movie by myself
81. Go to dinner by myself
82. Complete a coloring book
83. Climb Mount Everest
84. Host Thanksgiving dinner
85. Visit Ground Zero
86. Go dirt bike riding
87. Learn to play an instrument
88. Join a softball league
89. Go canoeing or kayaking
90. Learn to surf
91. Sing karaoke
92. Take a pole dancing class
93. Go scuba diving
94. Break a Guiness World Record
95. See the Leaning Tower of Pisa
96. See the Eiffel Tower
97. Play in a poker tournament
98. Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity
99. Build a birdhouse
100. Watch a chrysalis turn into a butterfly
101. Learn how to change a flat tire
102. Hike down the Grand Canyon
103. Go white water rafting
104. Learn how to meditate
105. Take a yoga class
106. Read every book by Jodi Picoult
107. See "The Star" by Edgar Degas at Musee d'Orsay, Paris
108. Open a martini bar
109. Drive a boat
110. Visit the Pearl Harbor museum
111. Go parasailing
112. Go snorkeling
113. Go rock climbing
114. Pay off someone's layaway
115. Run 1250 miles in a year
116. Complete 30 Day Shred
117. Ride a mountain bike down Mammoth Mountain
118. Marry my best friend
119. Have over 50 followers on my blog

This is just the beginning of all the things I want to accomplish and just the beginning of starting to cross things off. I was really excited to write this list, and am even more excited to start crossing them off!