My Budgeting Weakness

Posted on October 6, 2010 13 Comments

Fergie might be up in the gym workin’ on her fitness, but when the weather’s nice in Chicago all the running junkies like me hit the road. In October especially, it seems like everyone’s a running fool.  I guess living in a city rich with decadent food treasures means guys and gals alike have to work at staying fit and healthy. But what happens when staying healthy is one of your financial weaknesses?  

I’m currently training for a 10-mile run – a respectable, not-too-crazy distance. The run is Saturday. So what happens this week? Frustratingly, my knee, out of the blue, stops working (for those who know anatomy: it’s an IT Band flare up affecting the connective tissues in my knee). Most people would take that as a sign not to do the run, but I haven’t sacrificed my social life for the last 10 weeks for nothing! I’m finishing this race, even if I have to drag myself to the finish line on all fours. And to do that somewhat safely, I had to spend some money on a sports massage today, and on a foam roller this weekend, and, well… here’s the breakdown of what a healthy habit can end up costing for one race:

• New shoes (old ones were shredding my feet after 6 miles): $90
• New shoes after the replacements STILL gave me blisters: $90 (gave the previous new ones to a friend)
• Race entry fee: $50
• New pair of compression shorts for training when the weather was 90 and chafing (eww) called for more than Body Glide: $24
• New pair of lined running tights for training when the weather dipped below 45: $50
• Foam roller: $24
• Sweat wicking socks to help with the blisters: $20?
• NuSkin: probably $4
• Miscellaneous gels, gatorades, etc.: probably $5 x 10 weeks = $50
• Chiropractor + massage therapist appointment = guessing $50 after insurance? No idea, really.
• Gas to drive 150 miles down to the race and back = $40

So, for one race, including a few injuries, the 10-week total for me ends up being closer to $400! That’s ridiculous – I feel like such a yuppie cliche (people still use that word right?). Most people I know talk about how cheap running is, because all you need are good shoes and a route, maybe a cheap watch (mine is from Wal-Mart and cost $3). And yes, for the most part that’s true. But I’ve found that like any hobby or sport, the totals quickly add up.

Of course, there are ways to rationalize the cost: Did I really need to spend the $50 on running clothes? No, but those purchases those will stay around in my closet for years (I still have some of my running gear from HIGH SCHOOL – Go Wolfpack!). Also, did I really need to buy two pairs of shoes? I did actually, and I don’t think it’s unusual for runners to have problems with shoes – heck, some people like RunBlogger have dozens in their collection. And finally, did I really need to spend $400?  No, but $40/week isn’t that much, especially when you think about what I used to spend on one night out per week.  And running is healthy, so whatever motivates me shouldn’t really count as a negative, right?

Wrong. Expenses are still expenses.  And besides, the costs above don’t even begin to take into account all the other expenses that go along with the fitness lifestyle. There’s my monthly gym fee, the $60 sports bras I own, the music I’ve downloaded here and there, the iPod – including its holder and the headphones that break every three months, the cost of doing laundry constantly … the list goes on and on.  I don’t think I can rationalize my fitness costs even if I tried.

So there you have it, my dark secret… despite significantly reigning back a lot of my other expenses over the years, fitness is still a huge weakness for me in my monthly budget. And yet another reason why I needed to get back to blogging. For those of you who work out often and especially those of you who run, I’m curious to know – what are your fitness expenses like?

Category: Money
   Tags: budgeting , Fitness , hobbies

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