Friday, December 2, 2011

30 things to do before 30

In early 2009 (in between my first and second teamTBB training camps), I made a list of "30 things I want to do before I turn 30." I was 27, so I had almost 3 years, since I have a late birthday. Over Thanksgiving and the birthday weekend, I got to ruminate over "the list" and have no regrets on how it all panned out.

Here are things I accomplished on the list:
  • Go to a shooting range.
  • Break 10 hours in an Ironman.
  • Break 3:15 in an open marathon.
  • Visit two new continents.
  • Win a triathlon.
  • Land a major individual sponsor.
  • Get a six-pack.
  • Get pro triathlon license.
  • Do a prosthetic mission in Southeast Asia.
  • Find true love. (I actually crossed this off early on.)
  • Go XC skiing or snowshoeing at Tahoe.
  • Break a record.

Here are things I sorta did or sorta almost:
  • Make cover of a magazine.
  • Run a beer mile.  FAST!
  • Lead a GT MSPO class on an international mission.

Things I didn't even come close to doing:
  • Become semi-fluent in Mandarin.
  • Take Qigong classes.
  • Take surf lessons.
  • Pay off student loans. (hahahaha!)
  • Run my sister through her first marathon.
  • Host karaoke night at the Seahorse Saloon.
  • Learn to drive stick shift.
  • Get out of credit card debt.
  • Do 100 manly push-ups.
  • Do a P&O career talk at a college or university.
  • Get my FAAOP.

Learned a few things...you're not entirely responsible for making a goal happen if it heavily depends on another person (like the sister's marathon or true love). It's good to be ambitious and dream big. Some things are arbitrary--the "major individual sponsor" that I landed is Haamonii Smooth Shochu, a liquor company based in San Francisco. How many pro triathletes do you know who have their own liquor sponsor? :D

Some things I didn't quite accomplish, and still want to do. Some things I didn't quite accomplish and don't care to do any more. Then there are all those things that I experienced and accomplished, that I didn't even think to put on the list (like ride in a hot air balloon in the Philippines!).

Now I get to come up with a new list. 40 things before 40? That'll give me 10 years to do a bunch of stuff. Or maybe 35 things before 35...I don't want to think about turning 40 yet!

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