You Might Be a Runner If...

This week's Take it and Run Thursday reminds me of the old Jeff Foxworthy bit, "You Might Be a Redneck If...". You know, you might be a redneck if your family tree doesn't fork.

So, in keeping with the theme, You Might Be a Runner If...

1. You're pleased to find a cheap pair of running sneakers for $100.
2. It's 50 degrees out and you are psyched to finally run in shorts while everyone else is still wearing pants and long-sleeved shirts.
3. Wiping snot on your sleeve doesn't phase you anymore.
4. A tree off the main road is quite private.
5. All of your birthday/Christmas gifts are running related.
6. You only wear "wicking" fabrics and can't remember the last cotton shirt you bought.
7. A significant portion of your wardrobe is race t-shirts.
8. You wear long-sleeved shirts under your racing shirts in the winter so you can wear them all year long.
9. You find yourself frequently flexing your calves just in case someone notices.
10. You wear shorts even when it's too cold for them just so you have an extra opportunity to flex.
    
11. You crave toast with peanut butter.
12. You refer to the machine at the gym as the "dreadmill".
13. A "short run" is 5 miles. A long run is anything longer than 15 miles.
14. You've done more than 15 minutes of research on lactate threshold.
15. You feel a need to tell non-runners about lactate threshold.
16. You've gone through more boxes of pasta during training than you have for the rest of your life.
17. You finally fit into that pair of pants.

I could go on and on and on. But you get the point. We runners have an odd kinship with one another. We get the eccentricities and we understand how terrible GU can be sometimes. But we suck it down and hit the roads.