Boston

Yesterday was a rough day.

Boston has always been my city. I grew up just a short drive away in New Hampshire, so I constantly traveled to Massachusetts for concerts, field trips and special events. Eventually, I moved there for college and continued working there for a couple years after graduation. Even though I moved to New York just over a year ago, I’ve always considered Boston my home (second only to my beloved NH, of course).

On top of that, my family has quite a history with the Boston Marathon. My sister ran last year, and almost ran again this year. And for as long as I can remember, my parents have volunteered at one of the first aid stations by Heartbreak Hill. Thankfully, all three of them were far away from the blasts at the finish line yesterday. The majority of my friends also live in the city, and many of them were at the race yesterday. I am so, so grateful that all of my loved ones are safe. I can’t begin to express the concern and panic I felt yesterday, refreshing Facebook constantly to see who else had checked in. I am blessed—my love goes out to those who were not so lucky.

I’m always horrified by these violent events, but this one makes my heart ache. Looking at all the photographs, I see the streets I used to walk multiple times a day, now covered in blood. Seven journalism students covering the finish line for my alma mater were hospitalized with minor injuries. I’m not sure how to process yesterday, especially from here in New York.

But as President Obama said yesterday: “Boston is a tough and resilient town; so are its people.” We will pull together and move forward. I hope when the Boston Marathon returns, there are more runners than ever before. We get knocked down, but we get up again.

The finish line has always been a symbol of accomplishment and inspiration. While I certainly won’t forget what happened yesterday, I choose to focus on my sister’s triumphant finish last year instead. She looked so happy and proud. I look forward to seeing her finish again next time. Maybe I'll even join her.

Giving "Ridiculously Photogenic Guy" a run for his money.

All my love, Boston.

Run Like Hell

After I was laid off from my job back in May, I gave myself just one day to panic about my future. The next morning, I laced up my running shoes and took my emotions out on the asphalt.  I knew I had to stay upbeat and optimistic, and giving myself an endorphin boost through exercise seemed like a good plan of attack. Besides, one of the worst things about my old job was how I had so little time to exercise, and now I had endless amounts of free time.  I started thinking about how to get myself into better shape, and suddenly, I was contemplating running a half marathon.

I’ve never particularly enjoyed running, but I find it more effective than other workouts. So over the years, I’ve pushed myself into being a runner. And now, I decided it was time for me to try a long distance race. If nothing else, I figured I could at least cross it off my bucket list.

The training was tough, but I found my body adapted quicker than I expected. Even better, I felt productive. No responses to those job applications I sent out? Oh well, time for my next run.

This past weekend, I completed the half marathon. It feels weird to be done, actually. But the race went better than I expected. I didn’t stop to walk once—not even at 11.5 miles when my legs felt like they were about to fall off. When I crossed the finish line, I felt a sense of accomplishment that I hadn’t felt in a long time.

Why am I writing about this on my music blog? Well first, because I need a place to brag, but mostly because I couldn’t have done this without my iPod. During the race, I had some pop-punk to pump me up, but I found the most effective music was epic movie scores, particularly the Inception soundtrack. Nothing like a Hans Zimmer score to keep me moving—I felt like someone would shoot me if I dared to stop running.  I highly recommend it for runners (or anyone who wants to make everyday activities seem like matters of life and death).

I won’t post the pictures of me running the race, as I look hilariously miserable. Also, I have to pay $15 for each non-watermarked version. (Why they think I would shell out money for photos of myself looking like I want to collapse is beyond me). But the picture above is me with my race buddy, aka my wonderful mom.

And one more accomplishment to brag about: I recently got a paid internship at Parents magazine and I am loving every moment of it. Things are looking up.