Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Just "a good pair of shoes"?

I started running shortly after becoming a stay-at-home-mom. One of the things that originally attracted me to it was the fact that it was almost entirely free. All I needed, my friends assured me, was a good pair of shoes. Shortly after that, winter fell, and "a good pair of shoes" turned into a $500 treadmill, which I still rationalized was cheaper than a gym membership (or, alternativey, therapy). Soon, I realized that I needed special socks with extra cushioning, a supportive sports bra, and something other than my husband's cast-off t-shirts to go out in. Once I looked cute, I needed a place for the kids to sit, so I got the $80 used jogger, followed, two years later, by the $300 jogger.

Several years later, running hasn't gotten any cheaper. I can count on needing a couple of pairs of shoes a year. Race entry fees vary from about $25 for the cheap races, to upwards of $80 for triathlons and marathons. And speaking of triathlons, once I decided to cycle and swim for cross-training, that necessistated the purchase of a bike and a gym membership. Just yesterday I bought myself one of these so I no longer have to stash a water bottle near a stop sign or a fire hydrant and hope that a dog doesn't pee on it before I have the chance to drink out of it.

For years and year, people would ask me what I wanted for my birthday or for Christmas, and I always had the hardest time coming up with ideas. Not anymore.

How about this:
















Or these:




















Or these:


























And that's not even getting into the whole idea of getting a new bike. So running, for beginners, may be cheap. But I don't think it's just an inexpensive way for me to run off steam any longer. It's an obsession-- and obsessions are expensive.

9 comments:

Lei said...

Hey - this place looks great! Did you do it yourself? Let me know if you need any help. :)

Shelah said...

Thanks, Lei! Actually, I hired it out. Jennifer did it for me. I love it! I'll let you know if I need help-- as you know-- I am HTML-impaired and don't have any photo editing programs.

Courtney said...

My new favorite hobby is to see what changes you make to your blog everyday. BTW, you look great. I need to get back into running.

Shelah said...

um, those are not my legs, lol. I got the picture off of istockphoto.

Gabriela said...

yep-I hear ya.

Loved your last post-I can soooooo relate. Husband takes 3 big kids, baby won't sleep husband gets back and thinks I've been eating bonbons for 2 hours. Ugggggggh.

Guess that's the season of life were in at this point, eh?

Courtney said...

shelah, i didn't think those were your legs. no offense. i just meant in general.

Shelah said...

Thanks, then. The lady's legs in the picture look so toned, I was figuring that was a compliment. :)

Lucy said...

I think any hobby, when fully enjoyed, is expensive. Being married to a runner, I can vouch for its expenses. GPS watch, special clothes, really expensive shoes and race fees. But it's still better than golf!

Although, blogging (my current hobby of choice) hasn't cost me a thing, as of yet. Well...perhaps my children's childhoods. Kidding. I'm not that obsessed. They'll only need minor therapy:)

Queen of the Castle said...

Well, when you are going from the Target special, you really don't have to spend that much to get better than that. Besides, there are a few bikers around here, see if you could borrow a bike. I'd let you use mine, but I think that you are a bit taller than me and I'm all the tall end of my bike's limits. It isn't really meant for triathlons, but it would be better than the bike you used previously, no?