czwartek, 24 kwietnia 2014

Bieganie najtańszym sportem na świecie, mówią



Na zajęcia z pisania tekstów naukowych mielismy opisać coś z niecodziennego punktu widzenia z lekkim przymrużeniem oka, np spacery odmóżdżają, oglądanie meczu po pracy ma mnie zrelaksować itd. długo nie mogłam wpaść na pomysł o czym tu pisać aż zaczęłam robic porządki w garderobie i praca napisała sie sama. w związku z tym, że tematycznie wpasowuje się idealnie postanowiłam zamieścic ja tutaj. ehem ehem a zatem:


New Year’s rolling in and it’s about time for new resolutions. You’d like to take up some activity but you really cannot spend much. You cross out the bike then as it’s too expensive, you don’t want to pay for the gym membership nor the swimming pool pass either. What you have left, then? 

Running is the cheapest sport ever: just grab the pair of shoes, some old sweats and cotton t-shirt and head out the door, right? Or so they say. 

While you’re jogging you pass other runners all dressed in fancy-shmancy high-tech gear. But you’re OK in yours, right? Well, you have to admit that wet cotton t-shirt is not the most pleasant thing to wear. So you buy yourself your first running t-shirt. Oh my, the difference that makes. Now, how about those running pants? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a pair of quick-drying pants? And socks,for that matter? And don’t forget the running bra (if you’re a girl, that is). They say sports bra should never celebrate a birthday so you will have to replace it at least once a year but that’s it. No more spending. Well, not exactly. You find it hideous you have to wash your running gear every day so you buy few more changes of clothes. Just for convenience. 

Once you’ve been running for some time you decide to join your local running club. It’s free after all. And that’s where you learn your shoes are all wrong. You’re a pronator/neutral/overpronator and you need suitable trainers. Unless you want to get injured and have your joints, muscles, performance hindered. You splash a substantial amount of cash on a new pair but it’s an investment in your health, totally worth it.

Soon you are asked about your PB you obviously don’t have and you start searching where you can get one. It turns out they meant “personal best” for a specific distance so you sign up for your first race to get one and you pay the entry fee. Come again? 

That’s right, you have to pay in order to run but... you get a t-shirt (sometimes), a goody bag and a medal to show it off so it’s an investment really.

Once you’ve got your PB you learn that you should beat it so you sign up for more races and probably buy more gadgets: reflective clothing and night lights for visibility, a decent watch to keep track of your time and pace, hats to keep the sun off your head and sweat from your eyes, waist belts to hold water bottles, phone and cash. The necessities, really. Your running buddies are talking meryl wool t-shirts but you’re not there. Yet.

You enjoy racing but you see other runners wearing some fancy watches or other devices they are looking at ever so often and here’s where you learn about the heart rate monitors and GPS tracking watches and the gadgets you probably don’t need but you want them so badly. Surely you would run faster with one of those and you would finally beat that PB of yours. You can’t buy one now though as your trainers need replacing as they have solid 700km in them but next month maybe?

The appetite grows while eating so you sign up for longer races, maybe even the marathon and why not to run one abroad? London or Paris sounds nice. The entry fee is extorcious but that medal would look so good on your display wall. Don’t forget the plane ticket and accommodation but you can treat is as holidays so it’s 2 in 1, right?

Marathons usually take place in early Spring as to avoid the hot weather so you will have to do all your training in the Winter. You need Winter running apparel then. Cross training would be good too so you do buy that gym membership after all. And swimming is great for sore muscles. You're even considering hiring a personal trainer who would create a training plan cut specially for you. 

One day you open your wardrobe to find out you have more running clothes and shoes than the regular ones and running expenses take up 3/4 of your bank statement.


Buying that bike doesn’t seem so expensive now, doesn’t?