Wired to Run The Runaholics Anonymous Guide to Living with Running Addiction

by Skupien, Scoop

• ISBN13: 9780740757051
• ISBN10: 0740757059
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-05-01
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Summary

Runners and addicts. Addicts and runners. The two hardly seem to go together . . . unless you're one of those people who periodically put a couple of miles on your "running" shoes and then think things like, "Boy, this feels good. I could go all day long." Then you do. Or at least try to. Running and addiction-as in "running addiction"-do indeed go together like chocolate and peanut butter, as Wired to Run makes so perfectly clear.Written by Scoop Skupien, a habitual runner for the past 30 years and the founder of Runaholics Anonymous, Wired to Run is a humorous trip through the world of runaholics and a host of issues that the running obsessed can't quite leave in their dust. It's a good-natured satire of healing groups that will keep readers-whether they're runners or run enablers-laughing page after breathless page.Central to the book and the whole online Runaholics Anonymous organization is Skupien's 12-Step program for recognizing and dealing with this mental and very physical disorder. From "We admit that we are powerless over running" to "We reach the Pinnacle: the ability to run in moderation," the self-help style mixes laughs with actual training tips and other helpful advice. The combination-along with hilarious analysis of six different running "types" that encompass just about anyone who's ever broken a sweat-pokes great fun at runners, their odd habits, and their running rituals. It's definitely fun on the run!

Author Biography

Scoop Skupien began his road to running ruin at the age of six. For the last 30-odd years, he's run and raced through everything from blistering summer days to snow-drifted winter nights. Scoop has one officially sanctioned marathon in his logbook, but he has binged and run more than 26 miles at a time on numerous occasions throughout his addiction. His personal records include running 547 consecutive days and unintentionally throwing up on spectators in six separate races.

Table of Contents

PART 01 An Introduction to Runaholism
01 What Is a Runaholic?	3	(14)
02 The Runaholics Anonymous 12-Question Quiz	17	(2)
03 Is There a Runaholic in Your Life? Is It You?	19	(5)
04 People Who Shouldn't Be Running in the First Place	24	(7)
05 Runaholics Anonymous, Your Online and Occasionally Offline—Friends	31	(11)
06 Ridiculously Addictive and Obsessive Running Behavior	42	(20)
07 We Are Runners; We Are Different	62	(8)
08 Is There a Running-Gadget Addict in Your Life? Is It You?	70	(3)
09 Denial	73	(11)
10 Detoxification	84	(5)
11 The Runaholic's Tranquillity Prayer	89	(4)
PART 02 The 12 Steps of Runaholics Anonymous
12 Step 1: We Admit That We Are Powerless Over Running	93	(6)
13 Step 2: We Believe That No Power Greater Than Runaholics Anonymous and Our Own Will Can Restore Us to "Sanity"	99	(5)
14 Step 3: We Make the Decision to Turn Our Will and Our Lives Over to Runaholics Anonymous	104	(3)
15 Step 4: We Undertake a Fearless and Searching Inventory of Our Running Gear...and Ourselves (a Little)	107	(10)
16 Step 5: We Admit to Ourselves, to RA, and to Other Runaholics the Exact Nature of Our Wrongs	117	(8)
17 Step 6: We Are Entirely Ready to Have RA Remove All of Our Defects of Character	125	(13)
18 Step 7: We Humbly Ask RA to Remove These Defects—Preferably in a Nonsurgical Procedure	138	(4)
19 Step 8: We Make a List of All the Body Parts, Things, and Persons (Others) We Have Harmed and Think About Making Amends to Them All	142	(7)
20 Step 9: We Make Direct Amends to Those Body Parts, Things, and Persons Wherever Possible, Except When It's Inconvenient or Embarrassing	149	(7)
21 Step 10: Continuing Our Inventory	156	(3)
22 Step 11: We Seek Through Cross-Training to Improve Our Conscious Contact with the Zone	159	(5)
23 Step 12: We Reach the Pinnacle: the Ability to Run in Moderation	164	(9)
PART 03 Rewired and Still Running
24 The Last Runaholics Anonymous 12-Question Quiz	173	(2)
25 Summary	175	(6)
Sources	181