Marc Magnone: April 26, 2009 - Checking off items on the Bucket List

Crossing things off the list!

It always feels good to check something off the "Bucket List" and this weekend I finally checked off another item from the list! This weekend Jennifer and I ran in the Melbourne Art Festival 5k Flamingo Run. The race kicked off at 8am and we were done and walking around the art festival by 9am!

So, the "Bucket List"..........Many of you know that I am not a fan of heights. Some might even say that I am afraid of heights, so when we signed up for the 5K I was a little nervous because we had to run over a bridge. Yep, a real bridge that goes over water!

It sounds silly, but I have always wanted to walk/run over a bridge. We use to drive over the bridge on the way to St. Mary's every morning for elementary school. I always use to think "I sure hope we don't get stuck up here". Well, as I got older, I realized I had a fear.....so I set a goal to one day walk over a bridge.

When the race started, my goal was to finish the race (because I never run), beat my time from the "Tunnel to Towers Run", and to not get distracted by the bridge! The race started out pretty well - the first hundred yards were really easy, I had a slight iPod challenge, but I fixed it pretty quickly but not before thinking "great, now I am going to have to run this stupid 5K without any music" (can you tell how much I like to run). Once I fixed my iPod about 300 yards into the race and started listening to my "5K" playlist, the song "Stronger" from Kanye West started to play......just about the same time my legs started to feel like Jell-O....how ironic:-) We hit the base of the bridge around the 3/4 of a mile mark. I was a little nervous at first, but I kept reminding myself about my goal, and that when the race is over, I would be able to check this small accomplishment off the list!

Here is a pre-race picture at 7:50am. Ya know, I don't know why I keep calling it a "race"....
well, I guess I was racing Jenn. Oh yeah, another goal was to finish before Jenn.....hahaha

Isn't Jenn cute holding her water at the finish line?

Jenn and I both shaved a few minutes off our times. I think Jenn was 2 minutes faster and I was about 3 minutes faster than our last 5K. That is a pretty big accomplishment considering we don't run that much......well, I never run!

I had another funny thought during the race.......when I played baseball, all my coaches made us run miles and miles - and I HATED every bit of it...........who would have thought that I would one day run for fun?????

I felt really good after the race. I even told Jenn that I must be in better shape because I felt so good...........Now today is a different story.....I now feel like knives are driving into my legs every time I take a step....HAHAHAHA

Check out these mirrors! How cool would these be in our place in Houston? Not that we are going back to Houston, but how well would these mirrors match the decor? I told Jenn we should buy them, then match our next place to the mirrors.............but she said that might not be the best idea.......she normally knows best!