Obsessed. We all may need help!

I decided to join up for the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge over at Run to the Finish.  Hopefully it will help stave off some of the usual holiday weight gain! Click on the link if you are interested too.  There are lots of fun prizes to be won! And who doesn't love winning prizes?

I recently came across on article on FitSugar talking about exercise addiction.  Basically it said that if you have the symptoms listed below you may need some help. 

• The intensity, duration, and/or frequency of your workouts are above and beyond the recommended 30 minutes a day.
• You're compulsive about getting in a workout, regardless of other commitments, the weather, or personal pains or injuries.
• You're fanatical about keeping track of your progress (distance, calories burned, mileage, etc.) in an exercise journal, and are obsessive about meeting or exceeding goals that are often above your physical abilities.
• You feel guilty or anxious when you miss a workout, and beat yourself up about it.
• You constantly talk, read, research, and think about exercise.

30 minutes a day is all you get before you are considered addicted? 30 minutes?  Really? Some days 30 minutes isn't even half the run. This whole list has me shaking my head really.  So, if you are training for a half marathon and logging your miles, researching how to run it the best you can, and (ahem) blogging about it, you are addicted? 

Anybody out there just read this and not fit into the description of addicted?

So then I had to do some further looking into it, surely I am not addicted by exercise.  I could quit if I wanted to.  So i felt better after  I found an article HERE about being addicted to running.  It was a lot more in depth and more geared towards runners.  I liked it a lot better and even came out as neutral on the self test to see if I was addicted to running.  I will spare you the details, you can go read it if you want.  I am happy basking in my not addicted status. The self test is at the very end of the article if you want to find out if you are addicted to running in a bad way!

So maybe not addicted, just obsessed, like my husband claims I am :) But really there are so many worse things to be obsessed or addicted to so I really don't feel bad.  Running keeps me in shape, not depressed, at a healthy weight, feeds my competitive spirit and can also be very social.  It is relatively cheap, or can be if you keep it simple. Really I only run four days a week I hardly think that qualifies as obsessed.  I carve 5 hours a week out of my schedule to make time for me.  Five hours.  Is that so bad?  I think not. There are not a whole lot of other things that I do for me. 

I also think it sets a positive example for my kids.  I could be sitting on the couch eating.  I still make time to do special things with them too.  Running is a priority in my life but I think I keep it in balance.  Meals still get cooked, dishes get done, laundry put away.  Not every second has to be about cooking, cleaning, and being a wife and mother.  Somewhere in there I need and deserve time for me.  We all do.  Running fills the need.  It gets me "me time". Time to destress, time to relax, time to focus on something I love to do and am passionate about.  Yes, I tend to read about running, write about running, and talk about running.  I am a runner.  If that makes me obsessed and addicted I guess I don't really care.  It makes me happy which makes me a better wife and mother.

What about you?  Addicted?  Obsessed?  Is it so bad really?
Do people tell you that you are obsessed with running?