Tag: budget

Readers Roundtable: Is Run Coaching a Luxury or a Necessity?
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Lately, it may seem like everyone and their Instagram followers has a running coach. Of course world-class Olympic athletes have coaches. And sure, it makes sense for runners trying to qualify for the Olympic Trials. (Indeed, the ready availability and increasing popularity of run coaching may have helped feed the enormous boom in this year’s Trials qualifiers.) But what about us non-elite, non-Olympic, pretty average runners? Do we need coaching? Or is it an extra “thing” to spend money on in this supposedly cheap sport? Read more >>

Should You Buy Used Running Shorts?
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Ebay - search used running shorts
It was one of our more philosophical discussions: if a crotch sweats on some pricey running shorts but you weren’t there to see it, and then you buy those same shorts for a very low price on eBay, did the crotch sweat ever really happen? What if you wash the sweated-on shorts twice before you wear them? Three times?

In other words, would you buy used running shorts? How low does the price of used name-brand or “designer” running shorts have to be to make you even consider putting them on? Read more >>

Are Investment Races Worth the Cost of Time, Training, and Travel?
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Imagine this: You find an amazing race that you decide will be your goal race for the season. The weather is perfect there, the competition is stiff, and people go to this race because they know that no matter what, it’s just fast. There’s just one tiny little problem. It’s on the other side of the country which means you’re about to drop hella cash on this race.

Will that financial investment motivate you or stress you? Whatever you’ll feel, you push that thought aside and forge ahead with your plans.

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Should Runners Vote with their Dollars?
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Voting with your purchasesIn case you were hiding from the news this week, last Wednesday a WSJ reporter tweeted out a quote from New Balance’s VP of Public Affairs, Matt LeBretton: “The Obama administration turned a deaf ear to us and frankly, with President-elect Trump, we feel things are going to move in the right direction.” Within an hour, sneaker head magazine Sole Collector got wind of the statement and incited angry, shoe-burning backlash from consumers with their coverage.

And while it’s true that the statement was and continues to be taken out of context by consumers all across the political spectrum, the incident has definitely raised questions among some of us about where our dollars go when we purchase products from Nike, Under Armour or NB.

For instance, according to a research piece for CBS Sports, Nike founder Phil Knight donated $133,400 to support Republican congressional candidates in the 2016 election cycle and Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank gave $2,700 to the Clinton campaign. If you want to dive into the records yourself, check out OpenSecrets.org, which searches public record donations. There, I discovered the president of Mizuno USA, Robert S. Puccini, gave nominal amounts to Republicans in previous election cycles but did not donate during the 2016 election. Blake Krueger, CEO of Saucony parent company Wolverine World Wide gave $6k to Republicans in 2015 and 2016. Laurent Potdevin of Lululemon gave $2,700 to Clinton last October 1st.

Would any of this information sway your decision to purchase products from one company or another?

Do your political beliefs affect the way you shop? Do you think it’s important to consider how a company or its leaders will use the money you spend on their products?