Obsession is Good for the Sole

OK. I think I’m getting the hang of this blogging business. It seems like what people want the MOST is private, deeply personal information. That’s also what most bloggers want to share. To be honest, there aren’t THAT many people whose deeply personal information I want to know and I find it hard to believe that there are many out there who truly want to know mine, but, here goes.

I am obsessive about my running gear. There. I’ve said it. I feel better now.

The first example of the obsession is pretty innocuous and maybe isn’t even obsessive. Maybe it makes perfect sense. The first day I run in a pair of shoes I write the date on them. The might seem obsessive – except that – if you rotate through several pairs of running shoes and some of those shoes are the same brand and model it’s easy to lose track of when you first started running in them.

When you’re a running writer and people seem to feel the need to send you shoes all the time then it’s even worse. I’ve got shoes you’ve heard of and shoes you’ve never heard of from manufacturers that I’ve never heard of. I’ve got 3 identical pairs from one shoe company because I mentioned once that I liked them. It’s all good, but, if I don’t put the dates on the shoes.

WHY date them? For me, 6 months after I put on the shoes I put away the shoes. I bring them to a collection point for local homeless. In my area, at least, there are homeless walking around in some pretty high-end running shoes.

Now THIS may seem obsessive: I number my running socks in pairs. When I buy several pairs of running socks – and I always buy them in multiples of three – I will put a unique number on each pair. So, a pack of three socks ends up being pair 41, 42, and 43. Those socks are ALWAYS paired by number. 41 goes with 41.

Look, otherwise you might put on a left sock that is a month old with a right sock that is a year old. The cushioning is different. They feel different. They react to the shoes different. NO WAY. And if I find a pair that feels REALLY good I’ll put those away as “race” socks.

When do I throw away a pair of socks? When I can no longer move the holes around so that my toes don’t stick out.

The obsession goes on. I’ve got hundreds of running shirts but only wear two or three of them because I’ve bonded with them. I cut the lining out of running shorts and wear a light-weight compression short under the running short because for me the “chub-rub” starts in the first 10 steps. Sorry. I can’t bring myself to talk about my running underwear.

Do I need help? I don’t think so. There’s nothing wrong with obsession in the pursuit of performance.

Got a good obsession story? Email me.

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.