So … Boston.

It has been two years almost to the day since I last laced up my running shoes for a race. In 2011, I injured myself during my first race of the season, about three km into an 8K. Let’s be honest – the race I was running isn’t an easy one and I was nowhere near properly trained. I had easily skipped half of my training runs and hadn’t pushed out more than 4K (on flat roads) as preparation to run a very hilly course in High Park (in Toronto). Some may think it was stupid of me to even make my way to the starting line … and they would probably be right. But what I needed, more than anything, in April of 2011 when my mom was dying, was a sense that I had some control over something that happened in my life. If it was a stupid decision, that was fine, but it would be MY stupid decision and I was going to finish that course no matter what.

Did you know you can’t really limp through a course that’s almost entirely hills? Needless to say I didn’t do very well in the race. I haven’t run one since.

Then, yesterday, Boston.

As tragic as the news of what happened there is, what I feel most is anger. I’ll probably never qualify to run Boston but I don’t need to … I know what the running community is all about and I feel a very focussed rage towards anyone that would try to harm that community. The grief I feel for all of those people who were injured, who were killed, who are hurting because their loved ones hurt and – trivial as it may seem – those who trained so hard for a race that they never got to finish, just can’t be put into words. The anger I feel for the evil that caused so many people harm isn’t mine alone.

Yesterday also made me feel one more thing: the desire to lace up my running shoes again. I’m not sure what this act of terror intended to accomplish, or what the perpetrators were trying to prove. But they won’t scare me out of doing another race … if anything what happened yesterday made me want to go back to the running community that I love so much.

Time is a precious thing. None of us are guaranteed a single moment beyond each breath we take. My thoughts, hopes and prayers are with the people of Boston and with all of those families that have been changed forever by what happened there yesterday. For me, I’m going to take my anger to the pavement, in honour of those who may never be so lucky again.

Ah, Rome. There’s nowhere on earth quite like Rome. After having a few cozy and relaxing days in the beautiful (and very rainy) city of Venice, I arrived in Rome, as usual, completely lost but so excited. You know how some people have always wanted to go to Hawaii or Macchu Picchu? Well, for me it’s always been Rome. I have no idea when or why my obsession with that city started but it’s where I’ve always wanted to go ever since I can remember and I finally made it. After making a few wrong turns, I even made it to my hotel in one piece and get this: working elevator. A modern one! With the exception of the five-star hotel that Shaun and I stayed in when we were in Amsterdam, working elevators are a total rarity in Europe.

Of course, after dropping off my luggage, I did what I always have when I got to a new spot: headed out for a walk!

I found the Trevi Fountain (about a half hour walk from my hotel) and began my obsession with gelato. I had gelato once in Milan and once in Venice, but in Rome it became a daily ritual. The best gelato I found was near the Trevi Fountain, and I ended up going there twice in my five days in the city.

I lucked out by having the most beautiful weather in Rome … it was like the city knew I had been waiting my whole life to visit. One of my most memorable experiences in Rome was visiting the necropolis under the Vatican. They only take small groups down, you have to book months in advance, and it even has a separate dress code from the rest of the Vatican. But it’s amazing. You get as close as you can to St. Peter’s tomb (which, despite what people believe, is far under the basilica in the earth rather than just at the bottom of the stairwell). I also visited the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, I went to Pompeii and hiked up Mt. Vesuvius, I visited SO many churches, and met so many amazing people.

One of the things that I love most about the city is that you can just be walking along, through a sea of apartment buildings, and then all of a sudden you’re there: at this amazing landmark that you’ve read about a million times and that is hundreds of years old. It’s really, really incredible how well the Italians preserve their history. It makes me sad that we don’t have the same respect for our monuments here at home, but I’m so grateful that I can visit other countries and really get a sense of their culture and their history.

Photo bomb over … needless to say Rome was everything I hoped it would be. The people were fantastic, the food was fantastic – and the city, indescribable.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I know I did … so merry, in fact, that I neglected to take any pictures. My living room still looks like a tornado blew through it (why do I feel like I’ll be doing more cleaning today then shopping?) and I’m still tired! I opened gifts at home with my family first, before heading to my grandmother’s house for a fantastic Christmas feast.

For the very first time ever in my adult life, I get a Christmas vacation this year! I’m off between now and New Year’s and although I’m hoping to get a ton of things accomplished in that time I’m also hoping to spend some QT with some family and friends.

I’ll try to remember to take pictures!

I tried to think of some way to say how much my heart is breaking for the families of the victims of last week’s terrible shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The words never came, so for now I will just say the names of each victim, and with them silent prayers for healing.

Charlotte Bacon.

Daniel Barden.

Rachel Davino.

Olivia Engel.

Josephine Gay.

Ana Marquez-Greene.

Dylan Hockley.

Dawn Hochsprung.

Madeleine Hsu.

Catherine Hubbard.

Chase Kowalski.

Nancy Lanza.

Jesse Lewis.

James Mattioli.

Grace McDonnell.

Anne Marie Murphy.

Emilie Parker.

Jack Pinto.

Noah Pozner.

Caroline Previdi.

Jessica Rekos.

Avielle Richmond.

Lauren Rousseau.

Mary Sherlach.

Victoria Soto.

Benjamin Wheeler.

Allison Wyatt.

Twenty-seven lives lost too soon. May they rest in peace.

Lest we forget

Wow I’ve kinda fallen off the face of the earth since I got back from Europe, huh? I still want to write about some final thoughts from my trip and finally post some decent not-from-the-iPod pictures, but that’ll have to wait for another day. In the meantime I’ll tell you this: it took me SO much longer than I thought it would to recover from my trip! I’ve never been anywhere that had such a big time difference from home (8 hours … the farthest I’d been before that was Hawaii which was a 5-hour difference) and my body did not adjust well to the change! I only took one day off work after I got back, and since I didn’t come home until the Sunday that means I had about 36 hours to try and get my body back on Toronto time. It wasn’t pretty.

Since getting back life has gone back to normal and I’ve been busy catching up with friends and family, working and sleeping. A lot.

Next weekend I’m off to Chicago! I’m super excited to see a good friend of mine, and I’m hoping that the weather holds out – it’s been so rainy here!