A lot of people run while listening to music. Others have audiobooks and podcasts. And here is my problem.

I listen to two podcasts: an NPR show and a ghost stories podcast. (As much as I like NPR, I do blame it for some of my slower runs.)

I swear 80 percent of the time the ghost stories aren't really scary. The editor in me wants to cut so much. (A lot of the people sharing stories have the need to give the layout of their home, which is totally unnecessary and time consuming.)

But then there's that other 20 percent which is... spine-chilling.

And when do I hear this spine-chilling tales happen? When? Not during the bright skies when I start my run. Not when there's plenty of lighting around.

No. I hear them on days like today, when I'm in an isolated, almost empty track under dark skies and not wearing my glasses (so everything looks like a scary blob). A day when there's no cooldown, and my run to the car feels like a sprint for my life.

And the worst part? It didn't help my runtime at all.

While mostly geek, I do have nerd genes as well. That's means when I find a new interest I study it.

I found some interesting notes.

• Before the sports bra was invented in the 1970s, women used two jock straps or Ace bandages.
  
• People run a mile 30 seconds slower for every 5 degrees over 60 degrees. Because of that, I figure I'm actually super fast when not in South Texas.
• Some runners drop off water bottles on their trail before they run, so they have water handy during their run.
  

Now, when I read that last one, I thought, "Seriously? Who's that trusting? Someone could steal it or do something to the water. No one does that down here."

Then I learned Team in Training does that. They dropped off two water jugs before our run from Harlingen to San Benito. Of course, on learning this, I immediately jinxed them and said, "Really? I'd be afraid they'd be stolen or something."

And they were.

*Sigh* I got to drink and refill before they were taken. Unfortunately, the people running twice the distance I did weren't able to.

Note to self: No more jinxing.