The cost of getting back in shape – Swimming edition

photo credit: hectorir

At the end of last year, I promised myself that 2010 would be my year, that I would be focusing on my own personal growth. In seeking to become again an integrated person (someone with artistic, scientific, humanitarian and sports activities), I decided that I couldn’t come back to competitive volleyball directly. I needed to be regain my cardiovascular resistance.

So I went back to swimming. You may have noticed that I’ve lost a substantial amount of weight. I am swimming 3 times a week (in the early morning, before I teach my class at UBC), and I am also running 3 times a week and doing weight training 3-6 times a week (depending on how sore my body is).

I wanted to document how much it’s costing me to get back in shape. So here are some of the costs associated:

4 month pass for unlimited swimming $ 126 (I am faculty so I get a slightly reduced price)

2 pairs of swim trunks $60 (I probably could have gotten cheaper Speedos in North Van, too far, too late)

1 pair of swim goggles $35 (I didn’t want to skimp on goggles as my eyes are rather important)

1 duffel bag $30 (this was rather inexpensive as I bought it in Chinatown)

Grand total: $242 per 4 months of swimming

This, of course, doesn’t include transportation (because I *always* take public transit everywhere, so the cost of going to UBC every Mon, Wed, Fri is already a sunk cost). And since I swim before any of my “paid work” time is on (e.g. before 8:00am), I don’t discount any trading off time.

The one thing I might be trading off is some late-night time to work on projects (which could be/are paid). But to be quite frank, I prefer to spend money on myself and sleep at a more reasonable hour than not do so. I still feel that I have the energy and the time to work 16 hour days, even with all the time I book for other activities.

So there you have it, about $60 per month to get me back in the shape I want to be for summer volleyball. This doesn’t take into account the gym/weights part nor the dietary part. That’s the purpose of another blog entry.

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