Fitness & Finance
The weekend of my marathon, my family and I were sitting around talking about how absolutely crazy it was that some people set their alarms for some god awful early hour in the morning to watch the royal wedding of William and Kate. We shook our heads in baffelment until my dad said:
“Then again, how many people set their alarms for 4 a.m. in order to get on a bus to run 26.2 miles, and pay well over $100 just for the privilege?”
Not to mention gas and hotel! He had a point! Running is one of the cheapest ways to stay in shape… until you get into racing.
In California, racing season is basically all year, but the best time to race is fall and winter. I’ve got two 10k’s on the calendar for this month, a half in November, and I’ll probably do a Christmas run too. I’m seriously considering the L.A. marathon this spring. Race fees range from $25/$30 for short distances, up to well over $100 for marathons.
You don’t really get much for it besides the experience & course support. A shirt and sometimes a medal. A lot of people don’t get why you would pay money just to have someone time you and give you a medal when you finish. I can’t really explain why either. Motivation? Excitement? Achieving new goals? It’s hard to say why. For whatever reason, it is worth it to me.
The sun is setting earlier and daylight savings time is looming, so I’m looking to start running with a local running group – otherwise I’m going to have to go back to my cheap gym. I’m kind of an independent soul, so I might do that anyway. It’s about $20/month, no start up fees. They have a 60 minute cardio limit (fairly generous) but if the treadmills aren’t full, they were never sticklers for it. I was a member last year November – March, and I’d do the same thing again. Once the sun is out late enough to run after work, no more dreadmill for me!
Is your fitness routine expensive? Are you making any adjustments for the change in seasons? Do you worry about money when you are trying to stay healthy?
Stacking Pennies 
I think it’s great that your doing something to stay in shape and that you enjoy,even if it costs a lot. At least your spending that money on something worth it to you!
I only pay like $12/mo for my gym pass and that’s all I use 🙂
I wish I could find a gym for $12 month – all i need is a treadmill!
I love races. I find it provides motivation, emotions and swag. Sure, as you mention it’s a medal and a shirt usually plus food and potential other grabs like coupons. However, it works for me. I don’t spend a lot of money buying workout gear because I earn it through races. I love hearing other people talk about their runs and the chase to beat yourself. I like that it takes me on courses that I wouldn’t pick for myself and therefore a new challenge.
I run outside, year round, in Minnesota. Yep, that’s how much I hate treadmills.
Race fees are expensive and they are the reason I don’t do as many as I would like. However the experience is usually worth it. I just completed a 25k trail run this weekend. My longest distance to date but I am fairly new to running.
I was on my first day of vacation and woke up at 4am for that wedding (which I watched on Spanish CNN). I know it’s crazy but it was a piece of history!
I rarely worry about money when it comes to gym fees etc. My gym pass is 120$ for 4 months and it’s so close to home that it’s worth the exrta cost compared to farther/cheap gyms
My job just redid/expanded our fitness center so I joined that for $10/mo (based on length of service. Some pay $5) so I can run in inclement weather and when it’s too dark out (and cold but no one wants to hear that from someone living in FL lol).
As for races: I don’t mind paying the fees but I usually won’t pay $30 for a 5k. It just seems too high. I’d like to start taking weekend trips to various races.
I am a believer that a reasonable amount of money (this varies from person to person) spent on fitness is money well spent. I am the type who has zero motivation to work out in my own home gym (I don’t actually have one as I know I won’t use it and it would end up being a big waste of money). I am an occasional runner and occasionally I would sign up for races. I love the feeling of running with a sea of hundred to tens of thousands of people. Signing up for a race motivates me to exercise more regularly to get ready because I don’t want to be the last person to finish :). So for me, it’s money well spent :).
Our university has an amazing gym, and the cost of membership is built into everyone’s tuition (whether you use it or not). So it’s technically not free, but I don’t pay anything more than what I would normally pay.
I can get a pass for $60 a year once I graduate since Mr. Red will still be a student. Or my mom, who is also a student, said I could use her pass for free. Woot! 😉