Addicted to Racing...?

I tried to convince my husband last night that I wasn't addicted to racing, after telling him about a race I decided to sign up for on the 22nd. However, when I was looking ahead at my calendar and realized I had a total of 2 free weekends (one of them being Thanksgiving) that I was not racing in October and November, I thought maybe I should be eating my words....

The Evidence (aka my race calendar):
October 2: Kerrville Half-Ironman (Kerrville, TX)
October 9: See Jane Run Half-Marathon (Austin, TX)
October 15-16: Open Weekend
October 22: Frankenthon Marathon (Cedar Park, TX)
October 30: Run for the Water 10 Miler (Austin, TX)
November 5: Jameson 5k (Georgetown, TX)
November 13: San Antonio Marathon (San Antonio, TX)
November 19: JFK 50 Miler (Hagerstown, MD)
November 24: Georgetown Turkey Trot 5 miler (Georgetown, TX)
November 26-27: Open Weekend

In my defense, I do not intend to 'race' all of these races. Some of them I am using as supported training runs (although Dan will call bluff on this as well, as he says I am not capable of not 'racing' a race).

Dan and I are very different in our race philosophy. He only runs a few select races a year (1-3). His theory is why pay money to race when he can run for free on his own? My counter is that I not only enjoy the race atmosphere, but that I will push myself harder in a race than I will simply running on my own.

I don't race for the t-shirts (I pretty much have a life time supply of those at this point), or for the post-race party (although those can be nice), I simply just love to race. From local 5k events to the Austin Distance Challenge to the Boston Marathon…its awesome to get together with other runners, usually for a good cause, and run the neat courses in neat places. Its also great to have a race on the calendar – helps to keep me motivated! Plus, races give you a good reason to get out of town for a mini vacation! And to be honest with you, I am just a competitor at heart - I love to compete. I've always been a 'gamer.' When I was playing soccer growing up, I always played to a much higher level than I practiced at, and the same goes for my running - I always race better than I train. When I get to a race, it's seems a light switch goes on and I am instantly energized, excited and ready to run until I am exhausted of all energy.

So, I guess it's a good thing we don't have two racers in the family. If so, we probably wouldn't be able to afford the shoes on our feet :).