I know the fact that running is inexpensive exercise is an obvious statement but there is so much to be said for it. You don’t even need sneakers if you would rather go barefoot. You can run in whatever you own by way of clothes. There is plenty of gear you can buy but you don’t have to.
There is also the efficiency of it which I find endlessly appealing. Not that it’s hard to set up my yoga mat in the living room but since I am going to walk my dog anyway why not run with my dog and get moving first off in the right direction.
I read somewhere recently that less people are doing yoga than at the height of the craze about ten years ago. But those fewer people are spending twice as much on the accoutrements of the practice than before.
In an ideal world getting healthy shouldn’t cost money but in most ways you have to pay something to work out. Yoga is very caught up in this dynamic with classes often costing upwards of $25—though there are pay as you go alternatives. But for the most part it is a luxury sport.
This was an issue for me as soon as I ventured away from the Lower East Side to do yoga. My wife and I started going to yoga retreats when we first met after we finished our teacher training. They are amazing indulgent experiences that cost a lot of money and attract a very homogenized group of students.
The fact that running is inexpensive and I can leave my house and be back in thirty five minutes having covered three miles is ridiculously appealing. I hope I stick with it.