Today's Workout: 10.25 mile run including Heartbreak Hill - 8:48 pace
Notes:27 degrees, feels like 17, and snow emergency on the way!

I live at mile 24.5 of the Boston Marathon route, just a few short miles away from Heartbreak Hill. As a lifelong runner, that makes it my mission to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Even the image at the top of my site reflects my goal: It was taken about one mile away from Heartbreak Hill, near the Johnny Kelley monument.

It's hard to train daily on the course for a race you're not invited to run. I even tried to join the running club for the Boston Athletic Association - the group that organizes the Boston Marathon - and received a nice big rejection email. That's fine. Just fuels my motivation.

But on today's run, I got to thinking:  Am I trying to qualify for Boston just to say "I qualified" or because I actually want to run that race?

I believe, or I hope for most people, that a great deal of pride comes with qualifying for the Boston Marathon. I know I'd probably break down in tears, like I did when I finished my first marathon, and walk around in a state of semi shock. I also think qualifying is a badge of accomplishment. It takes a great deal of time and dedication to run a marathon in 3 hours and 40 minutes (women age 18-35) or 3 hours and 10 minutes (men age 18-35). Sorry, guys.

Don't get me wrong. I want to run the race, but I can think of a dozen others I'd probably rather run more... Marathons in Europe... on islands... through mountains... There's so much to see out there and here I am running the last 10-15 miles of the Boston Marathon route almost every week. Will that take away from my enjoyment of the race, if that day comes?

Actually, no. I'll qualify for the Boston Marathon one day and be so proud that I did. But I'll be even more proud to run that race, see my loved ones on the sidelines and motor past the place I call home just a few blocks from the finish line. I don't think anything could inspire me more.

I can't wait.