Can You Conquer Your Weirdest Superstition?

Yes, Friday was Friday the 13th but I didn't have to face breaking one of my biggest superstitions until the next day! People thought I was crazy when I explained my superstition to them...

Neurotic? OCD? Either of those is a fair word to describe a superstition that's plagued me for the past 13 years.  Those of you who know me, know that I'm a distance runner.  I train with the Boise Area Runners (theBAR) and Team Run Boise for fun. Well even my friends that I run with didn't know that I have carried around this superstition since 2003. They were close to figuring it out the first race day I spent with The BAR.  One of my fellow runners pointed out that she'd never seen me run without a ball cap or beanie but there I was on a 28º race day with no hat and my hair pulled up high, my bangs slicked back under a red headband.

The truth is, I've worn my hair like that during every single track meet, cross country meet and road race I've run since I won the District 3200 meter run with my hair in that style.  I was 15 years old that season so you can imagine how many races since then I've worn this "style" for. I was scared I wouldn't run well if I "jinxed" myself by wearing my hair in a different way.

Well this Saturday at the Tutu Run in Nampa, I had to "break" my superstition! I cut my hair two weeks ago and can't pull it up into a ponytail anymore! Not going to lie, it freaked me out on the start line and was all I could think about for the first half mile. (Told you it was neurotic.)  Apparently my hair had nothing to do with how I ran after all. I pulled off a 3rd place finish among all the female finishers in the 10K. I'm finally FREE!

You may call me crazy now. What strange superstitions do you believe in?