How do you decide or prioritise what to spend on?

As a semi-experienced (10 years, 25+ marathons) amateur runner (4hr+ marathon), wanting to improve, I find this a deep dark rabbit hole my wallet is struggling to keep up.

My current expense ratios for this year:

Races: 2xtrail & 1xMarathon ~$175 (35%)

Shoes: 2xshoes ~$175 (35%)

Gear: socks & bottle ~$75 (15%)

Tech: Garmin HRM ~$80 (15%)

Next on my wishlist are

  • road shoes
  • running tights
  • replacing my 3year old Garmin
  • running cap/ sunglasses
  • a coach

As a sole breadwinner still wanting to pursue my passion of running ,any tips or philosophies to share to help a brother out?

  • @WabbitsmilesOP
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    21 year ago

    Shoes: great idea on the training shoes. I’ll go down to the shops to try the fit for a couple, and add them to my favourite e-commerce carts and wait to profit

    Garmin: well, my battery is dying, and I’m a slut for more data. I’ll check out coros, the semi-pros and even pros seem to be enjoying them from podcasts and YTs

    Coach: I haven’t thought about books for coaching, I’ll give it a go. For me YT/podcasts don’t really do as well as there’s little accountability (read: discipline to apply) to myself. Perhaps with books there’ll be that.

    Accessories: yeah I got a bunch of cheap decath/ Chinese gear, but am always swayed by targeted ads or envious of others and their gear. I guess I have to work with what I have

    Additional: haven’t sunk into gels/ consumables much yet, been trying to DIY nutrition. In time this will come, but I guess a $20-30/month shouldn’t be that difficult to carve out.

    • @marvinfreeman
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      31 year ago

      I really like my Coros Pace 2. Relatively inexpensive. Great for running and cycling. Breadcrumb navigation. Long battery life.