Originally I had planned to write about the lessons learned from my Chicago trip. I still plan to but… I forgot about a little thing called the Boston Marathon, the 121st running of which took place yesterday.

I have mentioned frequently, both here and on my old blog, how strong my desire is to qualify for and run this race. Each year Marathon Monday rolls around and that desire intensifies. This year I got to run while watching the start of the race.

This morning, thanks to a mild winter and unneeded snow day, I got to sleep in and watch the race. I downloaded the NBC Sports app, logged in with Dad’s cable subscription (the use of which I am extremely grateful for) and headed to the gym.

Once at the gym, I knew before starting the workout that it would be great. I had speedwork on the docket, 1000m repeats. I decided to challenge myself knowing that the motivation would be there in spades. The workout was even greater than I thought it might be. Boston dreams filled my head.

After the workout I spent the morning engrossed in everything Boston from Meb’s final competitive Boston Marathon to Des’ heartbreak at yet another first place finish slipping through her grasp, from the beautiful finishing form of the eventual winner of the men’s race, Kirui, to Jordan Hasay’s almost unbelievably third place marathon debut. (I did also, thankfully, manage to get a little bit of work accomplished too.) This prompted my own marathon dreams.

This whole year I have planned to make Chicago my next BQ attempt. Now, I am even more determined to make that happen. I am ready and willing to put in the hard work I know it will take to get me there.

I know this Marathon Monday high will not last forever. It is all too likely to get caught up in the whirlwind that is the last several weeks of school. That is why I chose to write this post; I will have something to look back on to remind me of what it is that I’m working for.

In the coming months I plan to make this BQ attempt a priority. I will be dedicating myself to my workouts and to clean eating. I ate a lot of sugar on the Chicago trip and I feel the effects. I’ve already started on the clean eating reboot courtesy of a $97 trip to Costco. It’s worth it.

On the training end, I am considering hiring a coach. I think it would be worth the money if a decided to do that. I am wavering a little though and will probably make the final decision after the Mountains to Main Half.

Here’s to another amazing Marathon Monday and the continuing BQ quest.