On Sunday, May 6, I joined approximately 18,000 other runners in the Blue Cross Broad Street Run in Philadelphia. This 10 mile event begins up in North Philly (an experience in itself and the only time I wasn’t running for the safety of my car), through Center City (I high-fived Ed Rendell at City Hall), and through South Philly (where the Rocky theme was played at ear-shattering volume… no joke), past the stadiums and to the Navy Yard. All lanes of Broad Street were blocked off and there were people everywhere – some volunteers and some random citizens – cheering us on. It was freakin’ amazing.

Some people think “running that distance just for fun” is insane and I counted myself among them last year. I was talking to this guy who was a former collegiate distance runner and a fitness trainer who asked me “Oh, are you running Broad Street?” I replied, “No, but how far is it?” “10 miles,” he answered. My face immediately contorted into what I imagined to be a text-book look of incredulity and responded “Are you kidding? Oh no, I don’t do 10 miles.”

In the span of one year, that once-definitive fact has changed quite a bit. My entire mindset on running has changed… as has my body, my fitness level, and my mindset. My muscles are longer and leaner, and despite the fact that I smoke (don’t judge) and have allergy-related asthma, I am in the best shape of my life. Granted, my knees are going to crap out on me in about 10 years, but I wouldn’t trade my running schedule for anything. It’s a killer natural high, a great excuse to get outside and shape your body, and let me tell you – runners are hot. And I’m single. So this all works out very well.

There’s a cleansing element to running (in terms of both mind and body) and something pristine about the very nature of pushing your body to its perceived – and sometimes real – limits and seeing if you can go beyond them. I think it’s also appealing because it involves no other people or apparatus – it is literally your mind versus your body and one of the few activities where the individual is in absolute control.

I only took up distance running since graduating from college in 2005. For this race, I trained hardcore for about a month (I developed my training program with the help of Runner’s World Smart Coach and ran about 10-15 miles a week and had two 8 mile runs in the two Sundays leading up to the race). I was always the slow kid in gym class, mostly because I was built like an ox until I turned 20 and my hormones mellowed out. Through high school and college, I was a jumper (high, triple, and long), a sometimes-sprinter (I ran the 4×200 indoors when they needed me to), and a volleyball player. These activities require speed and quick muscle reaction. As a result, the furthest I ever ran was that initial 7:30 mile I needed to complete during volleyball tryouts, which I also dreaded every year.

But when senior year of college hit, I started running more, mostly because I was going through a really rough time and needed to break away from the drama and frustrations in my life (a dry-season for vball, my ex-boyfriend being a dick, academic pressure, etc). I guess it was the literal way of running from my problems, but damn – it worked. I used that time to vent (sometimes out loud, which freaked out the people I’d pass on the trails) and be pissed and convert that pent-up anger into physical energy. My runs became a big “F-YOU” to whomever I was upset with and whatever situation I couldn’t immediately amend. For me, it’s like “I can’t fix this problem, but I can control how far I go and how my body feels in this moment.” It really became a case of mind over matter and for me it still works in this way – it’s my natural Xanax and I am my best psychiatrist. Unfortunately, it’s sometimes difficult to run longer distances if I’m in a good mood, but the adrenaline and endorphin rush is so addicting that once I start, I usually don’t want to stop.

To quote a saying from the website for the One More Mile Running Co.: “Running – it’s cheaper than therapy.”

Well, it’s true. And to show my commitment to my newest sport/lifestyle, I entered in the Army Ten Miler, the nation’s largest 10 mile race with a cap of 26,000 runners (the registration is already at 23k) in Washington, DC on October 7, 2007. If you’re interested in races and are local to Philly or the Philly burbs, you can check out the Bryn Mawr Running Club’s website. For other regions, either Google a local run club or start your search at active.com. Please note that there is usually heavy drinking after races, mostly as a well-earned reward. Runners are also some of the best partiers I know!!