We often say that running is also and above all a wonderful adventure that changes you. It does so not only physically but also mentally. Sometimes (often) going so far as to change your habits and behaviors. Like the following ones, mostly funny (but very true, try to say I’m wrong!).
1. You have a lot of shoes and it looks so normal
It used to be that having two to three pairs of shoes seemed more than enough for everyday life and then for special occasions (more for men than women, I agree). Today, Carrie Bradshow and her shoe collection seem amateurish to you.
2. You measure distances in travel time.
Your relationship with physical distances has radically changed. Not that today you know exactly how long a kilometer is, however, you know exactly how long it takes you to cover it if you walk or run.
3. Distances that once seemed absurd now make you smile
It used to be that the idea of driving a couple of kilometers to the post office made you opt for a car (“Two kilometers! Can you believe it?”); today it doesn’t affect you at all. Indeed, going back to the previous point, you translate these distances into time spent. Automatically!
4. Carefully observe and judge the watches of others
You may or may not have always loved watches, but since you’ve been running, you don’t fail to observe other people’s watches. If they have a GPS you understand that you are part of the same tribe, and if you are in the mood you even gives them a big smile, as if to say, “We get it.”
5. You know where are the drinking fountains in your city.
Think about it: until some time ago, when you were still not running, would you have known where a single drinking fountain was located in your town? No, of course: you never needed it. Instead, you now know exactly where they stand and, in the most pathological cases, you know the distances between them.
6. You walk as if you were 80 years old
After an intense workout, it is perfectly normal to have sore muscles and thus to walk with poor mobility in the lower limbs, ending up looking like your version in your eighties and beyond. But it is for a good reason: you ran and walking like this seems more like a certificate of merit than a demonstration of old age.
7. You envy those who run
When for some reason you have not been able to train but also, in the most extreme cases, you have done it the same day, it may happen (it always happens!) that you pass someone running looking at him with envy because “He does and I don’t.”
8. You eat with less guilt
If you started running to lose weight or continue to do so to keep fit, you also know that the flip side of the coin is less guilt at the dinner table. After all: you’ve struggled to work out, so why not just allow yourself not to feel guilty about eating but rather, to consider it a dutiful reward as well?
9. You wear shoes of hallucinogenic colors
There was a time in your life when you would judge with a disapproving look those who used to dress in bright colors or wear shoes with colors and patterns that seemed to come out of a particularly agitated and altered dream. Today it seems very normal for you to use them beyond training, perhaps discussing the goodness of the “neon green/black/orange” combination. In fact, being perceived as “The Weird One Who Runs” is now an attestation of esteem and not an expression of dislike.
10. The first thing you pack
The running gear, of course. And you put it there first not because you are “also” going to run but because you are definitely going to run having arrived at your destination, and of all the clothing you pack that is undoubtedly the most important.
11. You mock Google Maps walking distance estimates.
And you take pleasure in reading them and thinking that it will take 20 percent less, in terms of travel time.
12. If you could run and didn’t, you get angry.
This change in outlook is also accompanied by the change in your relationship with time: if you used to have a gap hour you would watch TV, today you go out for a run. And if you don’t, you get mad at yourself: you could have and instead laziness took over.
13. You get indignant if a pair of regular shoes cost 180 euros but don’t flinch if they are running shoes
You never spent so much to buy you a pair of “civilian” shoes, so that they cost 160-180 dollars seemed like crazy to you. Now it seems normal to you. Maybe it’s because you have to wear certain shoes for the kind of commitment you have, while you really want to wear running shoes.
14. You find it strange to greet strangers on the street but not if you are running
Until recently if a stranger greeted you on the street you thought he was a weirdo and maybe you didn’t even reciprocate. Today you say hello to anyone because it is not just courtesy: it is much more, it costs nothing, and it makes you at peace with the universe. Needless to specify that you only do this when you run, partly because greeting anyone on the street would make you look like a lunatic.
15. You plan vacations according to races
You used to know the world’s major cities by capital city name, state of belonging, and local architectural beauty. Today you know very well in which cities there are the most interesting running-related events, and you decide your travel destinations according to the races you might participate in.
What about you, what changes have you noticed since you’ve been running? What are you doing today that you once would have found strange to do and never would have done? Write about it in the comments!
(Main image credits: Leika_production on DepositPhotos.com)