Howdy—From Our New Health-and-Fitness Editor

At about mile 6 of last year's Philly Half—that's me on the left, with my intrepid running buddy, Abby

Good morning, Philly! I wanted to take a moment and introduce myself—I’m Emily, the new health-and-fitness editor here at Philly Mag. I took the reins earlier this week and have been settling in to my new digs here at Philly Mag HQ.

A bit about me: I grew up in Media but have been living in DC for the past several years. Most recently, I was at Washingtonian magazine, where I covered health and fitness on the Web and in print. I absolutely fell in love with the beat; it jibed nicely with my interests and growing love of running.

See, I’ve always been athletic—I played field hockey and basketball in high school (go, Knights!)—but never really loved to run. Actually, if we’re being totally honest here, I hated it. With a passion. Every year, I dreaded field hockey preseason, when I was supposed to have been running all summer, but hadn’t, so I was completely out of shape. The physical pain of it was excruciating (or so I told myself); every step felt like work.

It wasn’t until college that I started to love running. I began with small goals—a mile around the track or on the treadmill, then a mile and a half, then two. When I moved to DC, I realized how much fun running outside in a city can be, with all the sights and sounds, the hustle and bustle. I signed up for my first race a year ago—the Broad Street Run, actually—and have since completed two half marathons and another 10-miler.

And you know what? I really love it now. The feeling of accomplishment (and, let’s be serious, utter exhaustion) is amazing; there’s a reason they call it “the runner’s high.” And on race day, the camaraderie and energy makes you feel like you’re part of a club.

I’ll never forget the guy at last November’s Philadelphia Half Marathon who passed me going up a hill in University City. He could tell I was struggling—I hadn’t trained well for hills, even small ones—so he turned around and shouted, “Fight those demons!”

I laughed because he was right. I’d started getting into my own head, telling myself I’d never finish. But he helped me get there. And when I crossed the finish line, I felt like I was floating, my face beaming with pride.

Ok, enough with the sappy stuff. All that to say, I’m super excited to be here, and to share all kinds of neat news, stats, and stories to help keep you healthy and moving. If you have a story idea, comments, or feedback, or if you just want to say hey, email me eleaman@phillymag.com. And to make sure you’re always part of the conversation, follow us on Twitter at @bewellphilly.

Thanks for reading! It’s great to be home.