Bring back the Bucket List

29 January 201726 January 2017 TLR Admin

Do you have a Bucket? If not, it’s time to get one!

The term “Bucket List” became so over-used that it’s almost been shamed out of the modern day vocabulary.

Yet it’s just a term for an incredibly important process that has somehow been deemed ‘uncool’. I want you to go into the garage and pull that bright coloured piece of plastic out of the pile and start to fill it again.

Developing a Bucket List makes you think about what you REALLY WANT to do.

It’s a safe place to list events or missions that to you and you only seem ambitious, wild, scary, exciting, challenging, rewarding, etc.

The important aspects of a Bucket List are:

It aligns with your running goals
Events or mission must be appealing to YOU
It remains full
It’s a foundation for long-term adventure
Events or missions are rewarding to prepare for and complete
They force you out of your comfort zone
It makes you smile and all “gigidy gigidy” when you read through it

Creating a Bucket List with the above attributes makes you think hard about why you run. What do you want out of it? Why do you show up and train?

Be careful to align your real running goals with your Bucket List. For example, making a Bucket List for next year which includes 20 races ranging from 50km to 300km, yet having the running goals of becoming stronger and faster, does not work. It goes again basic training principles and it’s unrealistic.

However, if you use the sport of running to travel, meet people and experience long events, then 20 Ultras in 12 months aligns with your goals. So be realistic and honest about what you want out of it.

The greatest benefit of a Bucket List is that it identifies End Goals. From these End-Goals, you can work backwards to develop a program and plan towards successful completion and guaranteed stoke!

The process may also expose holes in your plan, allowing you time to make adjustments or get some coaching.

Here is an example of a Bucket List that is frighteningly arousing.