Fitness Bucket List

I have an ever-changing list of fitness goals on my mind that I want to accomplish; some are in the near future, and some are true 'bucket list' items.  It was a lot of fun to finally get around to my task as a Fitfluential ambassador to make the list more concrete and put them all together in a Pinterest board.  Yes, many things are running related, but I got on a roll thinking about other fun things I'd like to take on...

Short term, I think it's no secret my first goal is to run a half marathon in less than two hours. 

Source: http://snohomishriverrun.com/

I'd also like to do my next 5K in less than 25 minutes.

By this time next year I had better be on a Ragnar or (dare to dream?) a Hood to Coast Team!  I probably could have strong-armed my way on to a Ragnar team of bloggers who had an injured runner at the last minute; alas, it was the same weekend as our little family road trip.  DAMMMMMMIT.  And I rilly, rilly hope that a plan comes together so that I can run one of these with my fabulous Oiselle teammates. 



(I think they like this idea as well..)

I'd also like to get in more trail running, but it's sort of hard with the kids being so young.  Since there aren't any real trails right outside the doors of the Y, the only time I'd be able to trail run is in the wee early hours, and that's just not safe in my opinion.  When baby girl starts preschool, I'll have one day a week with a kid-free hour or so during the day and I'll be near a state park with trails.  Hopefully I'll be able to get in some training and try a trail race next year.

There are lots of little things I want to do soon-ish, like stand up paddle boarding, have at least one Crossfit experience, do some more yoga and hike Mount Pilchuck again with my husband.



Six years is too long between visits to this glorious trail

As far a long term goals, the first thing I thought of was to run a 5K with my kids when they are old enough.  Maybe big brother will be good to go next year when he turns six; he already LOVES kids dashes and usually wins.



ACTUALLY paying attention!

I'd love to do a destination race like Big Sur or the Nike Women's Marathon/Half Marathon in San Francisco.  And, yeah, it'd be cool to score a Tiffany necklace at the finish.  The ultimate destination, though, would be to go home for a race.  The idea of the Soldier Field 10 miler is really appealing: the time of year (late April), the distance, and finishing on the home of the Bears.

Getting back into swimming is always in the back of my mind and I'll definitely join the masters team practices one day at the Y, and maybe even compete with them.  Watching Olympics swimming coverage gets me itching to get back into the pool and race.



maybe I'm even faster than this girl here?

Whenever I tell people I swam competitively growing up and love the water, inevitably I get asked when/if I'm doing a triathlon.  Maybe in the next few years I'll try some open water swimming, perhaps the Islander Aquathon, and yes, one day I will break down and get on a bike.  It's the bike part that's terrifying to me.  I feel so out of control when I get going too fast and it's so easy to get badly injured - like fall down and break something/get stitches kind of injured...

What's less terrifying than racing on a bike?  Running a marathon.  And, well, that may be closer to the near future than long term... 



Source: http://www.eugenemarathon.com/

But, I'll talk more on that subject another day.  It deserves it's own post.

Fitfluential Ambassador!

To say that I'm interested in fitness is probably a bit of an understatement.  I've been active in some way as far back as I can remember.  At least as far back as age seven when I was competing at state meets in the 25 meter freestyle.  I continued swimming throughout my childhood and into high school (and I've certainly had great role models growing up). 

OMG.  just... OMG.  I think I was a Freshman in HS in this one..

Even though I didn't continue swimming in college, I always did some form of exercise.  I started running and doing step aerobics to keep the Freshman 15 at bay. (I even have a Reebok step in my house right now that sometimes sees the light of day, if I have a sick kid and can't make it out to the Y.)  I didn't exactly 'enjoy' running but it got results. After my second child turned one last year, I decided I needed to have a goal and get out of my comfort zone/rut of solely relying on bootcamp and a few 3 mile runs a week to stay motivated. So I trained for and ran the Seattle Half Marathon, and loved the whole experience.  I realized that the reason I didn't love running initially was because I was always running short distances and that I really enjoy myself after getting through the first two to three miles of any run (even in a 5K race).  Its become addictive to get into that zone. 

Running, and sports, has not only kept me healthy and sane (especially with two small kids), but it's opened so many doors for me and helped me to really put myself out there, meet new people and take a few chances.  I've really come to see that the more that I put into anything, the more I get out of it.  If I didn't take that chance on sending a heartfelt hello to the ladies at Oiselle, I certainly wouldn't be writing this blog or this post about being accepted as a Fitfluential Ambassador!  I'm so grateful and excited about the opportunities that have come my way along this running/fitness journey. 

FitFluential is a network of fitness minded folks who share their experiences and journeys through social media (blogs, Facebook and Twitter). As an Ambassador, I'll have the chance to partner with brands that fit well with me and my blog, while giving me the opportunity to develop my writing (especially on the topics of fitness, food and health). 

So thank you Oiselle, thank you new running friends, and thank you Fitfluential.  I look forward to sharing the love!