My Running Bucket List

I know many people that have bucket lists and I even have a few things that I would consider to be on my own personal bucket list. I have been thinking a lot lately about how far I have come as a runner over the past few years and I have come up with my own running bucket list. I never would have imagined myself being able to run a half marathon, let alone 4, or even be training for a full marathon. I am beginning to believe that the possibilities in running are endless. I am not saying that I could go out and run a 50 mile race, but there are many running events that I could do now that I never would have been able to complete just a few years ago. I have many things on my running bucket list that I have already completed and I have many more events on my running bucket list that I will actually get a chance to do this year. Now here is my running bucket list in no particular order or importance:

My Running Bucket List
1.) Run a 5K
-I have completed 16 official 5K's already.

2.) Come in first place in a race
-I came in 1st place in my age group for my first 5K ever.

3.) Run in the infamous Boilermaker 15K
-I ran in my first Boilermaker last year and am running the Boilermaker again this year.

4.) Run a half marathon
-I have now ran 4 half marathons and will be running 2 more this spring.

5.) Run in the Color Run 5K
-I will be running the Color Run in Buffalo in August.

6.) Run a full marathon
-I am currently training for the Buffalo Marathon at the end of May.

7.) Run a mud run
-I am running the Dirty Girl Mud Run in Buffalo in September.

8.) Relay a full marathon
-I ran the first leg of the Rochester Marathon during my senior year of college.

9.) Run a Tough Mudder
-This one will have to wait until a year that I have less running events already scheduled and will require a different type of training.

10.) Run in the oldest road race in America ..... The Buffalo Turkey Trot 8K
-I ran my 5th Turkey Trot this past fall and will continue to do so every Thanksgiving morning.

11.) Run a road race in all 50 states
-This one may take awhile to actually pull off, but I'd like to start working on this one soon.

12.) Complete a duathlon
-I am not a very good swimmer so a duathlon would be perfect for me if I actually started biking more and this will have to wait until after I am off of my long distance running kick.

13.) Enter a road race with each member of my family
-I have ran in a few 5K's that my mom walked in, but I would love to have each member of my family be a part of at least one race with me.

14.) Run in a cross country race
-I ran in the McQuaid Invite my senior year of college and I am proud to say that I came in last place.

15.) Compete in a triathalon
-This is the event that will be toughest for me because I am not a good swimmer, but this is another even that I would like to work up to once I am off of my long distance running kick.

16.)  Run a race in my hometown
-I have run in the 4th of July 10K through the streets that I grew up on 3 times now and hope to have many more years to come in this race.

17.) Run at least one road race a month for an entire year
-I have come close a few times, but I have yet to tackle this one.

18.) Run the Corporate Challenge with my coworkers
-If there is a Corporate Challenge here this year, then I plan to get a group of coworkers together for this.

19.) Finish a half marathon somewhere exciting
-I ran the 50 Yard Finish Half Marathon last summer and finished the race on the 50 yard line of the Ralph Wilson Stadium. 

20.) Stay tuned for more!
-I am sure that this list will continue to grow over time and include more races.

My bucket list came out of another week of successful marathon training since I had plenty of miles and time to think about it. I am back and feeling better than ever! I was able to follow my weekday running schedule with no problems at all. Each of my runs were much quicker than I expected and definitely a lot faster than my marathon pace. I guess a hiatus in my running this month really did not ruin the base that I have spent months building. I was scheduled for a 12 mile long run this weekend, but decided to only run 10 miles since I only ran 8 miles last weekend. My long runs should be back on track within another week or two. I had some coworkers join me for 6 of the 10 miles this morning since they are getting ready for the Bridge Run half marathon in May. I will be running the Bridge Run as well, but that is only a few weeks before the Buffalo Marathon. I still have not brought myself to register for the Buffalo Marathon yet. I think that I just need a couple more really good long runs before I can convince myself that I am ready to register for it. I know that I could easily run a half marathon right now, but I still need some convincing on the whole marathon thing. I still have over 2 1/2 months left so I think that this will begin to seem like more of a reality pretty soon. Here's a glance at how week 18 finished off:

Week 18 (Continued)
2/28/13 - 3.05 miles in 27:04 (8:53 min/mi pace)
3/1/13 - 10 miles in 1:42:00 (10:12 min/mi pace)

216.5 miles complete in 33:13:34 and only 83 days until conquering 26.2 miles!