My amorous affair with running

I realise while i was running in camp earlier on that... i develop a high whenever i run. I can't break my running routine. I must run at least 3 times a week and each time it must be at least 4 km... Is this a bad thing? I have did some light searching in Google and search results are mostly grim.

Some things i saw just now:

The Physician and Sportsmedicine: The Obligatory ExerciserTerms Used to Describe an Overcommitment to Exercise. Activity disorder Compulsive athleticism Excessive exercise Exercise addiction Exercise dependence ...
www.physsportsmed.com/issues/2005/0605/yates.htm - 41k - Cached - Similar pages


Habits and Behaviors - ADDICTION, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, DEPRESSANTS ...A better term to describe a person's predisposition to drug abuse might be ... Exercise addiction is compulsively exercising to the point of damaging a ...
www.faqs.org/health/Healthy-Living-V3/ Habits-and-Behaviors.html - 81k - Cached - Similar pages


Eating Disorders - TYPES OF EATING DISORDERS AND THEIR ...... of control when bingeing and use similar terms to describe their need to ... Exercise addiction, or compulsive exercise, seems like a strange term as ...
www.faqs.org/health/ Healthy-Living-V3/Eating-Disorders.html - 63k - Cached - Similar pages


Describe the causes of eating disorders in terms of personal, genetic and environmental, ... Describe the behavioral pattern of an exercise addict. ...
www.homesteadschools.com/LCSW/Descriptions/Eating.htm - 9k - Cached - Similar pages


Eating Disorders: Over-exercising, Over ActivityThe terms pathogenic exercise and exercise addiction have been used to describe individuals who are consumed by the need for physical activity to the ...
www.healthyplace.com/Communities/ Eating_Disorders/compulsive_exercising_2.asp - 24k - Cached - Similar pages

I was amused rather than horrified. Because i'm sure in many of us, the term addiction conjures up an anecdotal scenario where a haggard drug addict, withdrawn and pallid lies slumped on a dark alley. All the while during your vision, you will notice that he is drawing deeply on a hypodermic needle containing elicit drugs...

Well, addiction was one last thing that i ever thought will happen to me if i ever exercise... Now let me descibe my feelings whenever i run...

Whenever i run, i feel happy with the headwind rushing against me. This rush serves as some sort of a positive feedback prompting me to go even faster. I like the feeling of heat emanating from my body whenever i finish my run. It feels strangely gratifying to feel the heat literally for me. It serves as a form of a vindication that i did put my everything in running earlier on.

But i do experience some sort of withdrawal symptoms when i happen to miss one of my scheduled runs due to unforeseen circumstances. Maybe it's atad exaggerating to term these as withdrawal symptoms. What i experience is merely guilt. I become guilty because of my apparent failure to run-i have broken a promise. I will then proceed on to worry whether my body will get any adverse side effects due to my failure to run. E.g will my lower energy expenditure that particular day cause my weight to balloon? or will my stamina dip drasticaly because of this? All in all, many negative thoughts will be generated because of the break.

What i will always do in the past is that i will try to make up for it by running longer the following day, so as to relieve that guilt in me. Running has always made me feel good and allows me to destress and i believ it will remain so for a long time...

Keep on running