The 10 Habits of A Highly Addicted Runner

Since the Broad Street Run, I have been pondering what my next real race would be and what running goals to set for myself. While all this pondering was going no where, I found myself making plans like "to stretch more," 'to ice after runs," and "to not force a run when hail is falling from the sky." (That last one is a great goal to set in the summer, by the way.) If I learned nothing else in counseling school, I learned to be self-aware. And during this goal setting, I became aware that basically I am trying to undo the strange and quirky (sometimes bad) habits I developed as a runner over the years. So, I made a list of them.

Here are the things I've been guilty of (in the order of the time it takes up):

1. Not stretching
   
2. Stopping the wrist-watch as I cross the finish line, thus ruining the finish line photo
3. Over-valuing the 5 seconds I would lose in a race if I stopped for water; not stopping and feeling dehydrated later
   
4. Enjoying commiserating about the taste of any non-Gatorade drink (e.g. Accelerade)
5. Having and believing in some lucky sports bra, socks, other random superstition, etc.
6. Looking up the times of every runner I know
7. Reading entire race reports of races I didn't do by people I don't know
   
8. Eating a whole package of Milano (milk chocolate) cookies
   
9. Doing a long run on a sheet of ice, one week before a marathon (Thank you, Noah, for the company.)
   
10. Tapering and complaining about the taper (even the pros do it)