Friday, June 12, 2009

Marathon ROI

I'm not going to lie, one of my motivations for doing this marathon was to save money. Summer in Chicago -- more than any time of the year -- is expensive. On top of $5/beer anywhere in Wrigleyville, street fests, Cub's games, farmer's markets, beer gardens and more just eat up most of my paycheck almost immediately after it's dropped into my account.

Just think, I thought, of all the money I'll save NOT going out all weekend long, for happy hour, etc. I'll have other things to do on Saturday morning than enjoy an indulgent brunch, I said, and I'm sure there will Saturdays when I'm simply too tired to play with friends. And the month of September when I drink nothing but water? Hundreds -- literally -- of dollars saved.

Despite this mentality, it wasn't until today that I began realizing the ROI of this venture. In fact, all had done was spend money on it. In sum:

  • Marathon Entry: $125
  • CARA Membership: $25
  • CARA Marathon Training: $129
  • New Running Shoes: $89
  • New Bike to Transport Myself to Saturday a.m. CARA runs: $70
  • Bike Lock: $30
  • Band-aids for blisters: $10
Go ahead and total it. I'm not going to do it!

In any case, Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals is tonight, and I received a large handful of invites to various bars to watch the game. However, tomorrow morning is my first run with CARA... at the dawn-breaking hour of 6:30 a.m. The run is a few miles away, so I'll be leaving my apartment around 5:45 a.m. Before it had even started, my buzz was dead, and I opted to stay home and watch the game with B. and his roommate.

Outside of the obvious mistake of missing, or a hangover jeopardizing my weekly long run, the cornerstone of marathon training, I had little motivation to go out. I mulled the possibility of meeting up with friends throwing back brews at a bar literally steps from my apartment, but it didn't sound appealing. It's not that I didn't the trust the night not to turn into an all-night bender; my body seemed aware of the challenge before it, and it craved rest and relaxation, not booze and nachos.

Eighteen Fridays like this stand before more. I'm sure there will be one or two where I say screw it and put on my party shoes, saving the long run for Sunday morning. No one's perfect. But for this week, I'm putting on my angel wings while thinking of the coin I'm pocketing in by cooking dinner and spending some QT with B.'s couch.

1 comment:

  1. I'm coming to run Chicago, too! I wish that we had something as cool as the CARA program here in TN to prepare. Oh well. I'm looking forward to running the race! And hey, most of those expenses are going to last for a while... like the shoes, the bike, etc. I'm sure it will be well worth the investment (or at least that's what I keep telling myself!)

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