Would you consider Kara Goucher obsessed?

She does run 13 times a week after all. She ran during her pregnancy too.

How about Jamie Eason?

“I personally like the gym, not only for the variety it offers but for the atmosphere itself.  I am surrounded by people, all with a common goal, and it really helps to maintain focus.  For that hour or so that I am there, my sole focus is to make progress toward improving my shape.”

She has a perfect body already. Why does she have to keep improving her shape? Is that obsession?

Pippa definitely must be obsessed. She is always running.

Heidi Klum is running every day this month. How cray cray of her.

Of course I am trying to make a point. These women are not obsessed with exercise. These women, in my opinion, are dedicated. Kara is dedicated to running while Jamie is dedicated to lifting. How come when they workout day in and day out, it isn’t considered obsession? Yes, it is their job in some sense, but they are choosing to be an athlete. However, when someone like me runs 8 miles a day that takes up a measly hour, people claim I am exercise obsessed? I am just so obsessed with running! Oh my god, it is a sin. I’m crazy and clearly need help.

Hold up. Let’s back up.

 I began running in 7th grade during the summer when I wasn’t playing volleyball, basketball, or tennis. I did it as a way to stay fit and because my mom told me to. I didn’t typically enjoy running. It was considered a punishment in volleyball and basketball. I would run everyday on the mountain that I lived on. Yes, I lived on a mountain in the middle of no land where cows, horses, and men with guns roamed. I did this for a while, but because I wasn’t that into exercise, I stopped running.

After 8th grade came high school. No duh. I thought, “I’m not a jock. I’m a punk kid who doesn’t need sports anymore. Let me just wear black all the time and be lonely.” Terrible mistake on my part and I regret it until this day.

I gained weight. I was over 150 pounds (I’m 5’2)  until the end of sophomore year. That’s when my mom told me I was fat and signed me up for kickboxing boot camp at 7 AM every morning (except weekends) for six weeks.

I loved it so much I did another six weeks, then another, and another. I became a regular at the boot camp for about a year. Of course that ended. It was $300 dollars every six weeks and my mom simply could not afford it.

What did I do? I took up running and I was determined to make the track team, which I did. That’s when I fell in love with running. It was the first time I picked up running for myself. No one told me to do it.

During junior year of track, I competed in my first race and didn’t do too hot. Boy, was I pissed off. That’s when my whole competitive drive came into place. Running was not only a way for me to de-stress, but a way for me to release my competitive drive. I was fierce. 

I like myself during this time. I felt good. I was running and I loved it! I also was at a good weight, even though I wanted to lose more.

Junior year – probably around 130

At the end of track season I gave myself a new goal: to make varsity cross-country. Long story short, I did. During the summer when I was working on that goal, I dropped weight like hot cakes mostly because I was running and not eating that much. Let’s just say I was eating under 1,000 calories a day. However, running never became a form of burning calories for me. I treated that aspect like a bonus.

Senior year of cross-country in San Francisco for a race – around 100 pounds (maybe less unfortunately. Not a healthy weight.) 

Running, for me, became a way to improve myself and to prove to others that I am a jock that I always wanted to be. 

Now, I eat well and I run. I run to clear my mind. I run to release my anger. I run to compete.

I don’t run to burn calories. I don’t run because I am obsess, as a lot of you put it, with exercise and food. If that makes me ‘bitchy’, so be it. Newsflash, I’m a chick. Women are bitches. I make snide remarks because I get so many of them. Another newsflash, women always call themselves fat. We may know in our head we look damn good, but out loud we say, “I’m so fat. No more cupcakes for me.”

If I was so obsess with running and working out all the time, I wouldn’t have a job. I wouldn’t have a life. I wouldn’t have a blog because I would be working out all the damn time.

I should not have to justify why I run for an hour a day and more if I’m doing a long run. I’m in cross-country after all and my coach gives me a schedule of what I should run. Take it up with my coach, then, if you feel like I am doing too much.

I don’t see the difference between my running every day and someone who eats fast food everyday. Are they obsessed? Is there something wrong with them or me?