Almost a year ago to the day, I wrote a post about my dream coming true when I was accepted into the 2016 Boston Marathon.

Of course, by now you know that things changed for me and I wasn’t able to complete this year’s Boston Marathon since I wasn’t comfortable running it at 7 weeks pregnant. It was a hard decision, I trained for over a year to qualify, but I knew that it was the right decision for me and my family.

I’ve known for the past few months that the time was quickly approaching again when the Boston registration would be opening for 2017. I had qualified with a 3:26 in Chicago last October. I knew it was a possibility but one that had a lot of unknowns surrounding it. I went back and forth for weeks on what I wanted to do. After many discussions with my husband we decided to go for it and I put in my registration for the 2017 Boston Marathon and was accepted!

It is still odd for me to see “31” or any age with a 3 in front of it on my registration.

The truth is, I really have no idea what is going to come. There is a chance I will make it to the start line and fulfill this big dream and there is also a chance that I won’t be there. My goal of course is to be there on April 17^th and run to the finish line to both my husband and little boy! It’s almost unbelievable to say that.

There are many unknowns:

• How much training will I be able to get in with a newborn?
• Are we going to be able to get help to be able to take our son up there?
• Am I going to be able to stay healthy to make it to the start line?
• How long will I be unable to run after I give birth?
• How many weeks am I going to have to train?
• Am I going to be able to pull off running a marathon at 4 weeks postpartum?
• How will breastfeeding and marathon training work?

There are many questions which mostly stem from being a first time Mom. I really don’t know what to expect, but I’ve been encouraged by so many to do it that I know it is possible.  I realize there are many unexpected things that I couldn’t possibly prepare for when it comes to a newborn or having my first child in general, but my goal is simple to take it one day at a time. That’s always been my focus, but this will require that more than ever.

My goals right now:

• Continue running as long as I can during pregnancy to help keep a base. I don’t know when I’ll need to stop or if I’ll need to stop by I just focus on what I can do right now.
• Take the necessary time post-baby to let my body fully heal until I get the OK from my Doctor to run again.
• Put a large focus on strength work post baby specifically focusing on my hips, core, and back. It will be important to focus on all areas but strength work will no longer get to be a hit or miss thing if I want to get to that start line healthy.
• Do what I can each day. I will hopefully have some sort of plan once I officially start training, but it’s just too early to plan all of that out right now.
• Go easy on myself.
• Focus more on the quality of my runs than the quantity.

The possibility and challenge excites me. I have dreamed and worked very hard to get myself to the start line of the Boston Marathon. I know that if somehow I don’t make it I will just focus on qualifying again, but hopefully that won’t be the case. I don’t know what the future holds as I take on this brand new adventure but I’m very excited about it!

So, that is where I am right now. I don’t have anything big planned out I just know my goal is to be at the start line of the Boston Marathon on April 17, 2017. First though, I cannot wait to meet our precious baby boy and start this next adventure in our lives!

Who else is going to be running Boston?