By: Peg Calvario, PHC Owner & Runner
PHC Members Run Blue Cross Broad Street 10 Miler
Under beautiful skies, a record-breaking 15,882 runners and 15 members of Pottstown Health Club took to the streets in this year’s Blue Cross Broad Street Run on Sunday, May 6. Spectators cheered them on as they made their way down the length of the ten-mile course on Philadelphia’s Broad Street. Runner’s World features this race as one of the country’s Six Big 10 Milers to Run.
I’d like to share with you Ten Reasons to Run this Best of Philly - Even if you think you can’t.
#1 Eat More & Weigh Less - Running allows you to eat more and weigh less. Weight loss is easy–if you adore microscopic meals and the hunger pangs that follow them. Fortunately, there’s a better way. Believe it or not, you can actually lose weight by eating more. The key is to eat the right foods–ones with a low calorie density and a high volume – and then run fast!
#2 Burn More Calories – Running is the ulimate calorie burner. I estimate that burning 100 calories per mile keeps me in great shape. By simply adding one mile per day, you can burn an additional 700 calories per week. Calculate how many calories you burn!
#3 Motivation - Running with 15,000+ runners motivates me and gives me a rush of new born energy! Picture Broad Street lined with thousands of enthusiastic and motivated individuals all running 10 miles for a personal goal. And then you get the chance while running to "high-five" our Governor Rendel along the Avenue of the Arts. But truly, working with a certified professional personal trainer maintains my motivation with my personal fitness plan. I encourage you to meet with a PHC Personal Trainer to motivate you to higher heights!
#4 Cross Training Your Core - You can boost the strength and stamina of your abdominal muscles even on days when you don’t do a single crunch. Here are three of the best ways to work your abs while cross-training. Just remember that whenever you’re performing an activity in which your arms and/or legs are moving away from the center of your body, you should engage your abdominals by consciously pulling in your stomach to get maximum ab-building benefit. Take a PHC Pilates or KickBoxing Class or even play Racquetball to get your abs tighter and stronger.
#5 Beat Treadmill Blues - Just like a cyclist loves her spin bike – I love my treadmill workouts! Thanks to the entertainment system of CardioTheatre, my morning runs feature the Sound of Philadelphia on 98.1FM. The treadmill workouts of interval training, speed training and hills prepared me to run fast on Broad Street as the theme of Rocky echoed the South Philly neighborhoods.
#6 Reward Yourself – Wait til you feel the aches of accomplishment hours and days after your run. Simply reward yourself with a customized massage! One hour all for you!
#7 T-Shirt - It’s always about the free stuff! Wearing your 28th Annual Broad Street Run Tee is the best way to brag about your personal accomplishment. Your Broad Street Tee is your PerfectFit! Don’t forget to grab all of the free food after the race!
#8 Dare to Dream - Happiness is doing something you love to do and being physically, mentally and emotionally able to enjoy it. Dare to dream running the Broad Street 10 Miler – possibly for the first time or maybe for a faster time or better yet – dream and work to achieve great results! It all starts with just your dream and we’re here to help!
#9 Healthy Lifestyle - Surround yourself with a Club that cares about your healthy lifestyle. Working out is a lifestyle - PHC and IBC have a variety of health information available to you throughout the entire year! Please take advantage of our Healthy Lifestyles programs including Fitness Reimbursement, Weight Management, and Nutrition, by logging in to www.ibxpress.com.
#10 Rich, Running, Relationships - It has been just 24 hours since I crossed the finish line of the Broad Street Run. I have shared smiles of congratulations, laughter, words of encouragement, plans for another race and stories about missing chip times. But most importantly, I have gained new relationships with a pack of PHC Broad Street Run Finishers including: Dan Almond, Patrick Hastings, Patrick Kelly, Mark Konchan, Rob Muse, Michael Todd, Greg Yanos, Amy Arnold, Theresa Baker, Cathy Endie, Janine Krilevich, Carolyn Mann and most proudly my husband Tom Calvario -who walked the entire 10 miles! I encourage you to join us!