Running obsession?

"Ha!"

That's the first thing that popped into my head as I just caught up on Nick's latest entry on his week of running. ( http://irunmountains.blogspot.com/ ). {I met Nick at Bandera, a friend of Brownie's, he won the race.}

I'm always impressed by how much he runs, and his climbing totals make me jealous of living in Austin where our highest climb is 0.6 miles. And even more kudos to him for running a strong race saturday in the middle of 100 mile week! Not to mention winning the beer bet against my buddy Brownie: "Double Ha!". (yet kudos to Brownie for getting in under 4 hrs!!)

But that's not what made me chuckle. It's towards the end when he talks about "Obsession with running". I also read Tony K's post about being obsessed about running, and thought about it for a while, but that wasn't the catalyst that made me think about how much I love running as I picked up the pace during my run yesterday. I was so incredibly happy to be running pain free, that there was no way to not run hard, jump over rocks, fly down the rocky descents, crank up the hills, splash through creeks(instead of hopping over them) and just love the feeling I had temporarily lost. (Plus, i needed a long run for the weekend!!)

So does happiness while running and my constant daily routine (when healthy), or my repeated return to the pool to simulate running mean that I am obsessed with running?

I don't know. I'm pretty sure if you asked my non-running friends, they'd definitely think it's an obsession. They'd also include the word "crazy" in there somewhere. They always do.

If you ask me, I'd say "no, I'm not obsessed, I just LOVE the feeling during and after", and I'm a driven person and the goal at the end makes it important to be out there gaining fitness, speed, turnover... But what's this feeling I say I love? It's many things: it's the feeling of fitness, of health, of being able to move forward without the help of third party help for long distances or periods of time, the hours spent alone on a trail - one with nature, the hours of laughter and banter with good friends on road runs, the feeling of pushing your body the absolute limit, it's getting to know what that limit is, it's seeing and feeling your body get better - stronger - faster, it's running multiple consecutive 100mile weeks because you can, it's seeing the sun rise 250+ times a year, it's the fantastic feeling when you're done of pure exhaustion, it is just undescribable... A feeling that is shared with others when you sit down, drenched in sweat, a puddle growing under you, and all you find to say is: "phew! I'm so tired, but damn, that was a great run", and your friends around you lift their heads (as they're catching their breath) to look at you and just smile in agreement. It's all that and a dozen other reasons.

Do I think about running all the time? No, not all the time, but I definitely mold my life around my running. But it's by choice and by love, and not because it's an obsession.

Because you see, like a cigarette smoker, I could also quit ANY DAY. I just choose not to. Not because I'm obsessed, bit because I'm addicted.

I like being an addict.