To Boston

On the East Coast, registration for the Boston Marathon opened yesterday at 10 a.m. I filled out the race application online yesterday at around 10:05.

With most races this is a process you try to get through as quickly as possible. The main thing you are paying attention to is unclicking anything that might result in more e-mails and not clicking on anything that might cost you more money. This process was different; it's hard to explain. I actually took the time to choose my real profession; I chose the shirt in my size, not my wife's.

This felt almost life changing. Like, I woke up yesterday morning and just thought, you need to start being better about things. About everything. You need to start living better in all ways. You need to really imbibe the lessons of Don Juan and start living like death is on your shoulder. Stop messing around. Focus. Be the person you really want to be; follow all the way through.

I do not want to say I will train harder for this race than I ever have before. What I want to say is that I will train smarter - with more focus, with more zeal.

My priorites will be family, work, school and running, in that order. In turn, I will, whenever possible, excise the intangibles (the distractions). That could make a huge difference.

I will write more about what I have been doing in training a bit later on - maybe after Sunday's Philadelphia Rock N Roll Half Marathon. But, in short, the purpose of everything I am doing right now in training has been to prepare myself to train as effectively as possible for Boston.

The new year can't come fast enough.