AN INTRODUCTION: THE BITCH CAN RUN

i have lived in new york for over 2 years now.

my main mode of transport in this city is my considerably long legs
and a 1965 red schwinn called sophie.
i walk and bike to work everyday.
but 2-3 times a week i run.
really run.

i dont consider myself an athlete, the word makes me think of someone gladiatorish in strength or construct.
i am neither of those 2 things.
i may be 5'7 but my frame is lithe and narrow, so i look more edie sedgwick than marion jones.
but more tellingly, i've never had one of those glorious athletic pinings to break a time record nor found the notion of testing my physical limits particularly enticing.

when i was growing up in singapore, i windsurfed competitively, danced, played tennis and swam. i did these activities because they were part of the school curriculum. they were okay. i did not hate them. i did not love them either. they were mildly interesting and occasionally self-congratulatory.

i can't remember why i started running. but i know it happened sometime after highschool before i moved to boston for college. i have a habit of staying up late at night, or more accurately, a perennial problem with sleeping. so maybe it all began with having nothing better to do.

oftentimes, at 3-4AM, i'd put on my sneakers, jump over the front gate of my house and run.

the first time i did it was a little scary but exciting. i still remember the color of my neighborhood in the dark - a deep magenta black; the warm wet smell of dense tropical trees like sweet rot; the bubbling crackle of my rubber soles smearing against the tar; the build-up of heat, ache and sweat.

i didnt know where i was going then. i dont think it matters when i run, even now. i enjoy making up routes along the way, taking unexpected turns and bends. i avoid taking the same road i had taken to get where i am. i always find a new one.

when i run, i run away from the sedentary, the way things "have been" or "should be." i run because i can. i run because it makes me feel strong, defiant and free. i am not surprised if my love for running is a metaphorical GPS pointing at my relentless desire for movement, change and discovery.

today, i out-run most of my athlete friends and definitely all my boyfriends. this part is still self-congratulatory but i am no pro-runner. most of the time i enjoy running solo, when everyone is sleeping or before they awake, just me and the dark, with everything else behind and everything else ahead.