Forums >Gears and Wears>Saving up for shoes
Not Your Average Joe
How do you guys save up for running equipment purchases?
Hi!
DWARP Marathon Madness Mob
As my training has been pushing up over 300/mo the running cost has started to be noticeable. For me, a disincentive for each run would not be good (having to pay when I run.)
"You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas" Davy Crockett
I'm a bit of a gear head - if there's a gadget for the sport I'm doing; I probably own it. I even find myself browsing at gadgets for sports I don't even play.
For running, I let myself buy shoes whenever I need them. I see that as an injury prevention thing, so I don't want to put any restrictions on that. But, for other stuff I make myself earn it through meeting workout and race goals or I'd be broke.
My blog is JT Running DC. It's awesome. Guide to Washington DC Area Running Routes. Guide to the New York City Marathon. Guide to the Boston Marathon. Guide to Running Gear. Guide to Running Clothes.
I budget for it as well. I buy a couple pairs a year at my local running store to support them then a couple pairs at 50% off or more on the internet.
I used to smoke a pack of cigarettes or more a day...when I start to think I am spending too much on shoes or racing...I add up what the cost of smoking (just the cigarettes) would be...I feel pretty good about the trade off.
I walk into a Dicks or like, find the pair I like, then as they are running shoes, hightail it out of there...
Seriously though, 50% off on Eastbay from Bing Cashback at the end of last summer set me up for a while. Nothing beats $35 Pegasuses.
rectumdamnnearkilledem
We don't smoke...but my folks were smokers. We didn't have much money growing up and any extra went into cigarettes. My dad didn't quit until he had a stroke a few years back. Luckily my mom quit when I was about 10, but I think of the thousands and thousands of dollars that went into those cancer sticks and all of the health care costs that have gone along with that (my mom has pretty severe asthma) and will continue to be related to their years of abusing their bodies.
DH and I sometimes pause a bit and feel somewhat guilty about spending so much on running and biking, but we get over it fast. Right now we are thisclose to pulling the trigger on a $$ road tandem that would fit hubby on the front and anyone from about 3'6"-6'2' on the back with a telescopic rear seat...a bike that either I or our son could be on the back of. A bike that would enable our family of 3 to go out on long rides together, instead of having to find childcare for DS until he is old enough to keep up with us on his own bike (for now I would be the one on a solo bike, eventually maybe I would be the stoker and he would be on his own).
But we don't smoke, we have a crappy old house with a REALLY cheap mortgage, 2 paid-off cars, no gym memberships, and my student loans are nearly paid-off. We live pretty cheaply. We don't do $$ vacations...our sports are our stay-cations. Most of the time we purchase our sporting needs and wants without batting much of an eye.
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
~ Sarah Kay
Pegasuses.
Pegasi.
"Because in the end, you won't remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain."
Jack Kerouac
Right now we are thisclose to pulling the trigger on a $$ road tandem that would fit hubby on the front and anyone from about 3'6"-6'2' on the back with a telescopic rear seat...a bike that either I or our son could be on the back of. A bike that would enable our family of 3 to go out on long rides together...
If there is a way to make this happen, I would. That would be awesome...fun now, and fantastic memories later.
Fun for me, especially...I can ride behind them and squirt them in the backs with my water bottles.
I have a couple of friends who are a very happily married couple. Their marriage almost broke up over a *cough* "driving decision" he made in the front of their tandem. Years later, if that incident ever comes up he still ends up sleeping on the couch for a week.
Uh oh...I gotta hear this story! Personally, I have very little interest in riding stoker (on the back). My hubby is 6'2" and has linebacker shoulders. I am nearly a foot shorter, so I would pretty much only be able to see on either side, but nothing ahead of us. We have a horrible old, crappy, tank mountain tandem with "ditch-seeking steering" that hubby found at a resale shop a few years back. Our kid loves riding on the back of that, but it's a miserable ride for more than about 10 miles.
Uh oh...I gotta hear this story!
As you know, tandems can go pretty fast downhill; tandems that are heavily loaded with touring gear even more so.
She was not thrilled about the quest for speed and always let him know. He always said not to worry. So on a trip through the Canadian Rockies IIRC they found a big old downhill and he decided to go for the sound barrier. He didn't know that there was a decreasing-radius turn at the bottom of this immense hill. Basically no way this was going to turn out well once they got to it.
They can't make the turn, leave the road and get into a deep ditch, somehow he keeps it upright even though they are crashing along the bottom of the ditch at a very high rate of speed. He summons every bit of skill he has and keeps them straight and upright as the panniers get shredded, gear flies in all directions, mayhem ensues. Eventually they come to a stop with no real injuries though the wheels are far from round, tires gone, chain gone, gear spread over acres.
He was immensely proud of his skill at keeping them together, turned around with an immense feeling of accomplishment and pride, expecting to get a huge attaboy and hug from her...
He almost died on the spot of an acute case of spousal rage.
Of course with a name like zoom-zoom, things will be different for you guys.