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.