It's official. Running has taken over my life.
As someone who has never screamed at my favourite footie team on the TV or come first in anything (except for a rather exciting egg and spoon race as a child), I didn't see it coming.
But, it was the point at which I was coming home from a night out carrying a foam roller (which to the untrained eye looks a bit like a pugel stick) more excited about rolling around than crawling under the duvet (at 1am), that it hit me. Running has changed me!
For the better, you ask? Yes, if I think about purely my health. The state of the house and my one-note chat, however, might tell another story.
Quite why it has taken me so long to realise this, is beyond me. The signs are everywhere, but I guess I was too busy running 10 miles into the office to notice.
Here are just a few of them. Dare you admit the signs might just be in your life too?
1)Your laundry looks like this...
2)Your living room looks like this...
3)Your bedroom has a foam roller in it
4)And a pile of these by the bed
5)You think running trainers look good with everything
6)You turn up to client meetings with this work bag...
...and you decide what to take to work based on what fits inside!
7)You have a cupboard that looks like this...
8)Your breakfast looks like this...
9)You think a running belt it a great Christmas present...
10) You know what one of these is... (and you like it)
11) You have a drawer set aside just for charity vests and finisher T-shirts
12) Your Sunday alarm looks like this...
13) Light reading looks like this...
14)And... you get very defensive when anyone even suggests running is bad for you (yes, you really do!)
I confess, when I picked up my first pair of running trainers, I didn't think it would lead to this.
If I want to keep my friends, I might have to consider a less life-consuming hobby post marathon.
If I can find another use for the foam roller that is...