100 days

In 100 days, I will put on my running shoes to crank out 26.2 miles.

I'll battle my body, telling me it is tired and doesn't want to keep running, as well as my emotions, which will be raw and close to the surface.

I'll know what it feels like to be part of the nervous quiet at the starting line in Hopkinton as a runner this year, not just as a journalist assigned to cover one the race.

I'll know what it feels like to look back over the many training miles up and down the Newton Hills and Heartbreak, and what it feels like to look ahead, my eyes and heart just waiting to see that Citgo sign as a beacon guiding me home.

In 100 days, I will remember the events that took place last year at the marathon, as I do nearly every day still, and try to kick just a little bit harder.

But today, I've got more work to do.

I've got training runs to complete, blisters to tend to, knotty and angry muscles to try to relax, and much more fundraising for my charity.

While I can't wait for race day, I keep reminding myself that this journey may only happen once, so I've got to soak in every second of it.

Remember every bead of sweat.

Remember every mile in the bone-chilling cold.

Take a mental picture of my son's face as he asks me every weekend morning "How far today, Mama?"

I must be relentless in my drive ahead.

I must push myself harder than I ever have.

I must not stop.

I will not stop.

In 100 days I will run The Boston Marathon.

Elizabeth is running the Boston Marathon for charity. To learn more about her cause or donate, please visit her here.