It's true. I'm am an addict.

You learn something new everyday, you know! Today I learned.....I'm an addict. I am both emotionally and physically addicted to running. I say this because I missed several opportunities to run last week and this weekend.

Wednesday was an off day last week so I planned to miss anyway. But I overslept Thursday morning and missed my run because I stayed up too late the night before watching American Idol off of the DVR. (Yes, I am a man and I can admit it.)

One of my blogging buddies, Jim, had e-mailed me to tell me he would be in town Saturday if I wanted to go for a long run with him. He is A LOT faster than me! With this is mind I only went 3 miles Friday so I could really push myself on Saturday. I was thinking I might go 10 miles to make up for Thursday. This would be my longest run to date. If I didn't manage that, I would run again on Sunday to meet my weekly mileage goals.

Then winter decided to actually move through this weekend!

It began raining early Saturday morning with the forecast predicting the rain changing to ice by 9 am, canceling our long run. Now Jim may have actually went out anyway but I would have REALLY been breaking my wuss rule to go out in rain in the low thirties! So to make a long story short, I didn't get to run ANY this weekend!

Jim is going to try to come again for the 5K Heart Run on April 1st, but I discovered something by missing all of my running this weekend. I was SOOOO stinking lazy! I NEVER take midday naps on Saturday or Sunday but I found myself lying in front of the tv, eating everything in the house, and feeling like I had been run over by a truck. Despite all of my resting, I had NO energy.

This morning I felt the same way and overslept again. I took off work early because I was NOT going to miss another run! (Plus I am starting "THE PLAN", which I will describe in another post later tonight.)

After my run and some weight lifting, I felt GREAT! I found myself whistling as I got ready and then...that's when it hit me: I AM addicted to running!

I felt completely different after exercising! Suddenly I had tons of energy despite exercising off about 500 calories. That doesn't really make logical sense but I am sure an exercise physiologist out there can explain how this happens.

Now I know that this addiction is much easier to break than your standard...say...crack cocaine addiction; but it is an addiction nevertheless. So for all of you out there reading this blog, for fun I have developed the following addiction test:

1. Have you ever worn your running shorts under your dress pants at work so you can get in a run at lunch?

2. Have you ever left early from work, blowing off your responsibilities, so you could get in a missed run?

3. Have you ever broken your own rule about running at night, in the cold, or in the rain, because you had to get in your miles?

4. If you miss a couple runs in a row, do you suddenly feel like you resemble John Candy or Rosanne Barr?

5. When your are in church on Sunday, does your mind often drift to calculating times for certain distances based on different paces per mile?

If you answered yes to any of the above, you may be an addict. If you answered yes to two or more, you are probably an addict. If you said yes to all of em', WELCOME TO THE CLUB!

:-)