Inspired by the Boston Marathon

As I'm sure all of you know by now, yesterday was the Boston Marathon. Up until a year or two ago when I first became interested in running I didn't know anything about the Boston Marathon. Yeah, I knew it existed. But I had no idea that there were qualifying times to run it. I didn't know the race had such a history. I couldn't comprehend how much it represented in the running world.

I still do not know all that much about the Boston Marathon, but what I do know is that I want to qualify for it someday. I am by no means a fast runner and I am okay with that. For the time being. One day I want to experience for myself what all the hype is about. I want to wear the finishers jacket with pride everywhere I go. I want to be a part of something that it so influential and powerful in this community.

This is the 2012 color of the jacket.

Yesterday was the 116th running of the Boston Marathon. 116 years is not any kind usual anniversary but this year's race was truly special because it marked the 40th anniversary of women being allowed to run in the race. It also marked the 45th anniversary of a female, Kathrine Switzer, running the Boston Marathon.

Even though I have only been running for about a year now, there has never been a time when I felt like I wasn't a runner or an athlete simply because I was a female. I am lucky to be a part of a community where being female is not a bad thing. Most races now are mostly comprised of female runners in fact!

Besides the history aspect of the race, yesterday's Boston Marathon was special because of the record setting temps. The high in Boston yesterday was around 90 degrees, which is unthinkable for this time of year. The race organizers put out multiple warnings about the dangerously hot weather and advised people to not go all out during the race.

It was 90 degrees here in Baltimore yesterday and I can tell you 90 degrees is really effing hot. I can't even imagine running a marathon in those temps. I was sweating as soon as I went outside and opted for a trainer ride in the air conditioning instead of braving the heat for a run.

Despite the offer to transfer your entry until next year due to the heat, many people ran anyway because they had already payed to travel all the way there. Everybody who ran in yesterday's race amazed me. I am not sure what I would have done if I was in that situation but I do know it wouldn't have been pretty. To those of you who stuck it out and ran despite the heat, you deserve and extra medal. You should be more than proud of yourselves. And to those runners who opted to not run the race and chose the deferment instead, you are very smart. Don't think you quit or took the easy way out. Running in those temps is very dangerous and not worth it. There is always next year.

Inspired By the Olympic Marathon Trials

As I'm sure all of you know, the Olympic trials for the men's and women's marathon were on Saturday. While I wasn't as lucky as Emily or Sarah and wasn't in Houston as spectators extraordinaire, I was glued to Twitter all morning for live updates. I have never run a marathon and I have only been running for a few months but I still felt pride watching our nations best achieving their spot to represent the USA in the London 2012 Olympics.

Lately I have been really struggling with finding motivation to train for my upcoming half marathon. Watching the trials really inspired me though. No runner out there by taking the easy way. They were all focused on achieving their dreams. I loved seeing all of their hard work pay off at such a special event.

I came to the realization, as simple as it may be, that I need to figure out what is truly important to me. What do I want to achieve in my life. I won't be motivated to do something unless I am truly passionate about. More specifically, what I need to figure out is what motivates me to do those things that are important and that I want to achieve. I want to be a runner and triathlete but I have to figure out how to add these two sports comfortably to my life.

For me, the trials couldn't have come at a better time. I am around eight weeks out from my spring half marathon. I still have time to turn my sour attitude around. I am going to channel my inspiration from this country's greatest runners into my training. I am going to run because I love it and because I can, not because I have to.