Money, shoes and winter
It's July 31. This, on the face of it, may not seem very significant, apart from bein
g slap bang in the middle of winter.
How can we only be half way? Although winter in Wellington so far has been relatively painless, I can't wait for summer training conditions. Winter is beginning to feel like eating Weetbix without enough milk.
But July 31 may be significant in another way that is still on the subject of halfway. On ZM this morning, they were complaining about being halfway through their pay period with nothing but excess behind them and a lonely road till the next pay ahead.
I sympathise. I’ve being feeling much the same way. At Stuff, we also get paid monthly. Unless you have the budgeting skills of an accountant, it isn't a lot of fun. By now, I've done all the shopping I can, but the next pay day is an impossibly long way away.
This month, much of that problem is down to the fact I splurged on my own birthday present – a shiny, pretty new iPod classic. My precious. Finally a player large enough to hold my ever-expanding collection of music.
In my defence, if I had not, I’d still be out of spending money, because I desperately need some new running shoes. Mine are completely clapped out. But since I wore them to train for and complete a 100km walk, a half marathon and random other training, I can’t really complain.
The SMH, one of Stuff’s Australian sister sites, has a story about the benefits of barefoot running. Apparently high-tech running shoes have made our bodies lazy and prevented our feet from doing what they do best. Runners may even perform better without shoes.
While the science behind this seems a little incomplete, I’m prepared to accept it is likely to be true.
However, this doesn’t help me much. Doing some barefoot work seems fine and dandy if you’re a track runner. But I can hardly take to the roads or trails around Wellington barefoot. If I didn’t cut my feet to ribbons, I’d certainly get frostbite in this weather.
So next pay, I'll be buying some of those shoes that are so bad for my feet.
But all may not be lost. My ballet teacher was telling the class how many muscles in our feet we were working last night, and how we would be strengthening them.
The (no doubt) minor issues of co-ordination and flexibility aside, maybe I have found the perfect complement to running after all.
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I've told myself I'm hanging out till My Adidas hit Shoe Clinic again. I think it's finally time I treated myself to some customised shoes. Though my last pair of Adidas don't seem to be winning any awards for longevity. I only bought them in April and I think they're failing on me already. I did run the Rotorua marathon in them, but still ....
As for the winter thing, do you not think it feels like spring then? It certainly did when I was running round the Botanical Gardens under the warm sun yesterday, with the Tui singing and the flowers out. This wind even feels like a typical spring Northerly. I know it's a bit early yet but surely we deserve some reward for having been plunged into winter similarly early? I don't know that I would have wanted to have been running in bare feet though, especially with the large dog deposit on the side of the sports field right in my path.
I'm the still fairly new owner of an iPod Nano. I thought around 1000 songs would be plenty, but it seems not!
I have a pair of Fivefingers (Sprints, to be precise). I like them. Cost me about $200, including shipping (since I had to order them from the US).
If you do buy them, you'll have to reduce your distances for a while to let your feet and calves adapt.
How can you say Wellington's winter has been relatively painless! It's been the worst for years and absolutley freezing, wearing 3 layers of Merino wool and jerseys to work is no fun. Bring on Spring!
Paid Monthly? YUCK. I have turned down jobs in the past because of their monthly pay policy. I don't know how you do it mate!
In Christchurch it's been spring for most of this week. High's of 16*C Norwest breezes.
Spring is officially only 4 weeks away, so this is hardly the middle of winter. More 2/3 of the way through.
I saw someone running in those Fivefingers around the common the other day and thought what the HELL have they got on their feet? It all becomes clearer now...
It's summer in London and I'm wearing what I used to wear on the fringes of an Auckland winter at home. Not happy, although it is quite good running weather at least. Looking forward to a return to NZ summers in a couple of years!
Am I the only person around who prefers winter running? Summer=beating sun=floopy Sass. Although it is nice to have my fav trails not be squidgy underfoot...
Ann,
we are two thirds of the way through winter. Winter is June, July, August...you see?
The solution to expensive running shoes? buy last year's model. I am running in a pair of Asics Cumulus 9's (current model is 10's) I picked up online for a measly £38. Don't buy two models back though, the compounds go hard and brittle after that long.
As for running in the winter vs summer, give me winter every time. In the winter I can run and barely perspire (if I'm prepared to be cold for the first 5min, I am), at the moment in the northern summer the sweat is dripping off me, quite literally, as I run. The first hint of coolness on the breeze that heralds the start of autumn has always made we want to run, it isn't just the promise of coolness again its because Autumn is Cross Country Season! Muddy legs! Muddy legs!
As for being paid monthly, that is just normal as far as I'm concerned. If you think budgeting over a month is hard, for two years I was paid 6 monthly, and it was not always on time . . . I was also paid in ECUs (currency prior to the Euro, electronic only) and the bank charged the cost of a slapup meal in a nice London restaurant for two to convert it to pounds. Could have been worse, I nearly ended up living in London and being paid NZ$ at NZ salary rates. ECUs every 6 months over that every time.
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Don't know if you've seen these, but there a few gym trainers over here that recommend them as an alternative to luxury shoes making your feet lazy...
http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/
Yep, they look strange.