BROAD STREET RUN

Sunday May 4, 2008 at 8:30 A.M. 

This morning I went for a run with Hannah, my 6-year-old yellow Lab, and Hannah’s Aunt Angela, dear friend, coffee buddy, Kohl’s shopping girlfriend and running partner.  I have been playing around with the idea of presenting the CURVYGIRL WALKING CHALLENGE to train for the Broad Street Run but had not finalized my decision yet, as there is a lot to consider. I think I was waiting for some kind of sign from the heavens on the idea. 

This is a 10 mile race which begins way up Broad Street near Girls High School and finishes at FDR Park in South Philly near I-95. There are 10,000 or more people who come from all over the country, as well as abroad, to walk, skip, jog, power walk and wheelchair this race. The race is held the first Sunday in May every year and usually the weather is gorgeous.  Not real hot, but sunny and cool.  People line the streets to cheer on the walkers and runners along the course and there is so much support and energy.  The high is amazing.  There are hundreds of volunteers who get up at the crack of dawn to make sure the participants are hydrated to the finish line. All in all, it is a fun day.

As Angela and I have WALKED, POWER-WALKED AND RAN this route many times our goal was always just to finish it.  I remember the first year, as we rounded City Hall, I began whining and mumbling some words I can’t repeat here.   I was hot, tired and cranky.   I asked Angela, whose big idea was this - yours or mine?  She totally ignored me and told me to just getting moving.  Hey, that’s my line!  Before I knew it I was 2 miles from the finish line, my legs hurt and as always I was starving.  To top it off, my mind was telling me I was not going to finish and those old negative demons wanted me to give up.  I was that close to quitting.  Then I saw a guy right near me walking on one leg. He was as happy as could be and I caught up to him, as I needed to feel some of what he had.

That was all I needed to get myself in gear…to stop complaining and realize that I had trained for this - for months - and I was not going to give up.  I took a deep breath and tapped into some of those MENTAL SKILLS and positive reinforcement, went into a power walk and finished.  It was a great feeling to be there, little old me, in the midst of all of these people, to accomplish a personal goal.  The feeling of finishing what I started was fantastic. It was a personal victory for me and for Angela.  As I am writing this, I can still see it. 

So, Angela and I have decided to take on the CHALLENGE again this year and both of us wanted to extend this to the CurvyGirl Community. Now, before you say ‘You’re crazy, I could never do this.  I am too big and out of shape!’, think about this. All you need to do is put ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER to finish.  Really when you think about it, that’s all it is. It is one big mental game of ‘Can I or can’t I?’  I will post more in the coming weeks but I will begin some serious training for the event in early March. We will train and you will feel high, low, sad, tired or exhilarated but you will also feel a feeling that is fabulous:  I will DO it because I can.  All I can say is THINK ABOUT IT - try it.  What’s the worst that can happen?  You might actually finish.  And isn’t that what life’s all about?  Running a good race and making the most of the journey right to the end? 

Debra