In my opinion, as a sport, running is only as expensive as you make it, with a few exceptions. In warmer weather, running is t-shirt, shorts, shoes, and off you go. In wintertime, it’s running tights, a few layers on top, warm stuff on ears and hands, shoes, and off you go. If you are healthy and injury-free, running can be a pretty wallet-friendly sport. The two things that start tugging dollars out of my wallet are shoes and races.
Oh, shoes. I’ve been so, so lucky to discover a brand of shoes that works for me, and to have found them early in my running adventures. I’m a loyal Brooks girl and have been for (gosh, can it be?) twelve years. I haven’t stuck with many things for twelve years—not a man nor a home—but my running shoes, yes. I love Brooks shoes. I love that I can order them on-line without even trying them on and feel pretty confident that I’ll have a great pair of running shoes on my feet when they arrive.
This month I finally bit the bullet and bought new running shoes, which I’ll show you (ha, I just typed “shoe you”!) in photographic form after they arrive. I’m pretty excited and think these new shoes will give my runs a little extra pep. The other thing I finally did this month is register for the 2012 Armadillo Dash. It’s a local race, so no travel/hotel/eating out expenses for me with this event. I would love to travel for a race this year, and maybe I will if JD and I can run the Solstice 10K in Michigan in June. That would be terrific, as JD is a great running buddy and I would love to race a 10K. I’ve never run a 10K race! But it seems like the perfect “short long distance”: short enough to be run at a fast clip but long enough that you aren’t out-and-out sprinting the way that a 5K can feel.
Yes, races are awesome, if a bit pricy at times. But I’m excited to have some big-deal running events on my calendar for the year, and I’m looking forward to taking my new shoes on their inaugural run after they arrive.
(Another possible wallet side effect of running: feeling justified in eating more food and drinking more wine. But that, my friends, may be a story for another day. Cheers!)
I can't believe that you have never run a 10K. It really is a good distance, as you described it is to far to sprint and not so far you get downright exhausted. When me and some running friends ran a 5K on New Year's Eve, we all bemoaned the distance. As you start training fr longer and longer distances it becomes harder and harder ot amp up for such a short run. I barely even feel warmed up until somewhere in mile 2!
ReplyDeleteExpense is one of the main reasons that I've decided to race less in 2012 than I did in 2011. I think I did nine races last year, but I registered for ten (including Chicago which was $135 for registration). I traveled to several of the races and a couple involved over night stays in hotels. This year I will be traveling to a couple of races - one is an overnight trip for my birthday and one is to visit good friends from grad school - so I will only do a couple of local races in the summer and another half-marathon in the fall.
ReplyDeleteJD, I can totally believe it! When I was training for my half last year, on long runs I often didn't hit my stride until 3-4 miles into the run. Oh, running, the things you do to me.
ReplyDeleteRaquelita, I admired your ambitious race schedule last year! It was impressive. While I would love to do a race in Austin this year, I think it's not in the cards because of my work goals. I just don't think I can commit to two half-marathons in the spring. But I am getting excited about the 10K in June and the fact that it will motivate me to keep running as the weather gets hotter down here.