What I Would Buy if Someone Was Paying for My Running Expenditures

I read this story on the iRun Canadian running blog, https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/78597171/posts/4967553742 and it gave me some ideas. The woman who wrote the blog post included pretty much anything you could imagine running-related, from Lululemon and other expensive brands of clothing and shoes, down to laundry detergent to wash all those sweaty running clothes in. If I had someone paying for absolutely anything I could possibly wish for running-related, what would I buy? It’s fun to dream, right?

For starters, I’d have someone put together my Sole treadmill that the movers took apart when I moved in July and I haven’t had the time or money to pay a professional to put it back together again. No need for a brand new one, since this one is relatively new and worked great before it was in a million pieces (those movers were the WORST!).

Photo by Max Rahubovskiy on Pexels.com. While I’m at it, I might as well take the whole bathroom shown here along with the sauna!

Next, I’d buy an infrared sauna, not a portable one like in the other blog post, but not a giant 4 person sauna either. A simple one person sauna, but not one where your head sticks out would be great. I don’t know about you but those portable saunas where your head sticks out just don’t seem right (seriously, check out the link above to the blog post to see that contraption and if any of you actually own one, please correct me if you think it’s the best thing ever).

I’m sure my Fleet Feet running buddies would love a free race entry and all travel expenses paid!

I do like the Canadian runner’s idea of limitless race entries for not only herself but her friends as well. How much fun would that be to tell your running buddies that you would be paying for all of them to run in Napa Valley or Spain? I would also take it a step further and have all travel-related fees paid by my sponsor. Now that would be amazing! Half marathon in Iceland anyone?

Another thing the Canadian runner and I agree on is getting some compression boots like Normatec air compression boots and while we’re at it, let’s go all in and get the Normatec 3 Full Body that massages your arms, hips, and legs. Of course I’d have to also get a Hypervolt 2 Pro Heat Pack to work out any kinks with the added perk of heat. These would be used in addition to weekly deep tissue massages. I’d be feeling good after all that!

I’d get a fancier Garmin watch than the one I have that’s a few years old at this point and even then wasn’t one of their fancy ones but is pretty basic. I would also stock up on all of my favorite Nuun hydration products and Honey Stinger waffles and bars. I’d pick up some JUNK Brands headbands, Sprints running hats, an unlimited supply of running shoes, Pro Compression socks, and Turtle gloves. Finally, I’d get different colors of Shokz open-ear headphones (I only have one pair of blue ones I’ve had for several years and I’m going to cry the day they stop working).

Lest this all be just about me (and my running buddies when we travel to races), I’d donate annually to Girls on the Run, a group near and dear to my heart since it sparked the love of running in my daughter. If someone is bankrolling my running-related endeavors, surely they’d go along with the idea of supporting and empowering young girls. I’d also support local races by donating monthly to ones that come across my radar.

What about you? What are some things you’d buy if you had an unlimited budget for running-related expenditures?

Happy running!

Donna

What has travel brought into your life that you otherwise wouldn’t have had?

This post was inspired by my other post What has running brought into your life that you otherwise wouldn’t have had? Similar to running, travel has brought into my life so many things that I wouldn’t have otherwise had, nor could I have ever imagined how radically travel would shape who I am today. Fortunately I don’t have many negative travel experiences so I’m just going to focus on the positive travel experiences here.

One of the first things to come to mind that travel has brought to my life is an open mind when it comes to people from different cultures and lifestyles. I grew up in West Virginia, a state not exactly known for their open-minded people, or at least not when I grew up there. My parents and grandparents were likewise not what I would call open-minded when it came to people from other cultures or alternative lifestyles.

On my trek to Machu Picchu, we stayed (in tents) with this guide’s family one night, and met his parents and their llamas

It was only when I went away to college that I discovered just how sheltered in many ways my childhood had been. Sure, there were some people from other countries in my schools but they were by far the minority. The ethnic restaurants in my hometown consisted of Americanized Mexican and Chinese foods which today I wouldn’t even consider eating.

I also took my first international vacation when I was in college after I won a day cruise to Freeport, Bahamas that included a hotel stay in Freeport (3 or 4 nights; I don’t remember which) and a day cruise on the same smallish cruise ship back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That trip opened my eyes up to travel and left me with wanting more. It was my first exposure to international food and culture and I wanted to experience more.

Travel has also brought me countless experiences I’ve been fortunate enough to share with friends and family. The older I get, the less materialistic I am and the more important experiences are for me. Instead of buying me a piece of expensive jewelry, take me on a vacation where we can make some memories.

Yes, my daughter and I have even been to Hell together

I’ve always thought it was imperative, not just important, but necessary to take my daughter along when I travel. She had flown to Florida, Vermont, and Hawaii all before she turned two years old. She’s gone to places like Austria, Germany, New Zealand, the Canary Islands, Peru, Chile, Portugal, Costa Rica, the Caribbean and all except three states in the United States. Her teachers told me over and over that they saw personally how travel had helped shape and influence my daughter. One teacher thanked me for taking my daughter along on vacations because “travel is one of the best forms of education.” I fully concur.

Travel has educated not only my daughter but also myself. I’ve learned about cultures in a diverse array of places around the world that you just can’t otherwise learn. You can’t watch a video on YouTube and be effected by it in the same way as when you’re there in person. By watching a video, you only see what’s on the surface. You miss things like the smells, being able to look around beyond the person being videoed, you can’t ask questions in real time (I know, unless it’s a live streaming video). Instead of just watching something, you’re more of an active participant.

Travel has shown me that people are mostly helpful, most of the time. Sure, there are exceptions like pickpockets and at the most extreme end of the spectrum, people that do others physical harm, but for the most part, those are rare and can usually be mitigated by staying aware of your surroundings, not having valuables out in the open, and avoiding known dangerous areas. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, even on vacation, and that’s just a fact of life.

This trip to Portugal really tested my perseverance. I got yelled at, ignored, had to take a bus when the flight to Faro was cancelled, and missed my flight going back home but despite all that, it was an incredible trip that I treasure!

Another thing travel has brought into my life is the ability to be more resilient. I didn’t have an easy childhood so I already had a good foothold in being resilient but travel has expanded that. Things often go awry when you’re traveling. Your luggage is lost by the airline (one reason I never check a bag with an airline; see my post Never Check a Bag with an Airline Again), you miss a flight and there are no more flights out that day, you get lost, you get injured or sick, your credit card doesn’t work in another country, etc.

How you handle those issues has a lot to do with how resilient you are. If for example you miss a flight and just break down in tears in the airport and can’t think straight, it’s going to be much more difficult to figure out what to do than if you can remain clearheaded and find someone else who can help you if you don’t know what to do. One thing I say to my daughter over and over is, panicking never helps. I can’t think of a single scenario when panicking would make a bad situation better. Travel has given me the ability to stop, take a deep breath, and with a clear head, figure out what to do when something goes wrong in my life.

A final thing that comes to mind that travel has brought me is it’s helped bring my daughter and me closer. We have travel memories that we’ll both forever cherish, like when we first saw a sunset at Sunset Cliffs in San Diego, when we took that boat ride in New Zealand and laughed the entire time, when we ate so many delicious meals together all over the world, standup paddle boarding in multiple states, spontaneously seeing dolphins on a walk along the water in Florida and that same day seeing peacocks in a neighborhood, running half marathons together in multiple states, and on and on.

What are some things that travel has brought into your life?

Happy travels!

Donna