Some girls chase boys, I pass 'em

I have a new favourite set of numbers! 2:10

This past weekend I ran the Ottawa half-marathon and crossed the finish line 5:30 minutes faster than my time last year. I am your new pace bunny! And my cut 330 seconds are the result of many runs and cross-training over the last year. Not only did I reach my goal, but it was the most fun that I’ve ever had running.

Now stay with me for a second – it did pour with rain and the fog was so thick that I couldn’t even see the Parliament Buildings as I crossed back over from Gatineau. Normally, a little bit of misty spit or chill in the air would have kept me and my sneakers at home. Yet something inside of me on Sunday morning encouraged me to get over the uncomfortable conditions, to forget the squishiness of my wet shoes, to ignore the awful sugary taste of blue Gatorade in my mouth, and just keep moving one leg in front of the other.


My photo finish! I will admit that this is like a Where's Waldo, but I'm in there! 
(PS: While the clock says 2:15,  it is adjusted for your individual shoe time.)

I read an article last month in Women’s Health Magazine “Determination: How to get what you want” about the power of grit and how women can use it to be successful. Whether you’re an athlete in training or investor in the making, I found the article to be relevant and motivating. The notion of grit to overcome adversity definitely stayed with me during my run as the weather became nastier and the kilometers seemed to get longer and longer.

At kilometer 17, one spectator caught my eye as she held up a sign that read “Remember: You paid to do this” and I couldn’t help but laugh. Yes… I had paid a $70 race entry fee, spent $82 in gas to get to Ottawa, another $84 on my hotel, and $35 on a pre-race dinner just to run 21.2 kilometers in the pouring rain. But I wasn’t running because I had paid to do it, I was running because I had finally found my grit and this is what brought me to the finish line exhausted and thrilled.

Cash flow conundrums

I was reviewing my upcoming 4-week budgets for the summer as I am always looking for areas to cut costs. One of the areas that I was planning on saving money was with my YMCA membership. Now that the warmer weather is upon us (sort of, Montréal has been under water non-stop for the last week) I am outside more for running, biking, and even swimming. While these sports have little equipment, I still have to pay for my Trois Vitesses club membership, registration for my half-marathons & other events, and I have opted to take a technique class or two. It didn’t make sense for me to pay for a monthly YMCA membership when I plan to be outside this summer.

My YMCA membership is $52 a month as I get a $5 subsidy from my company. I was also pleasantly surprised to see on the YMCA website the option of suspending one’s membership for a period of 3 months! See below: 

It’s reassuring to know that you can temporarily put your membership on hold or cancel it with no hassles. Whatever the reason, the Y allows you put your activities on hold for a minimum of one month and a maximum of 3 months over the course of your one-year membership. You can take advantage of this privilege twice per year. The sum of the hold periods cannot exceed 3 months.

Or at least, so I thought as there is fine-print associated with the website’s claim.

I went into the YMCA last night to suspend my membership for June-July-August. It turns out that even though I’ll suspend my membership, I’ll still pay for these months. The make-up for these suspended months is added to the end of a member’s year. I’ll pay for the membership this summer even though I’m not using the gym or attending classes, but I won’t see the impact until February-March-April when I go to renew my YMCA membership and these 3 months are just added on. (Yes, I am one of those people who joined a gym in January…but the good part is that I’ve stuck with it for the last 3 years so I’m not a total flake.)

Fortunately I’m able to suspend my membership so I am not paying for something I will never use. I am sure a lot of downtown gyms are much more expensive than the YMCA and my location has excellent modern facilities. Unfortunately, the suspension just doesn’t help out my cashflow for the summer months and being the next Sporty Spice will expensive.

Are there any other financially fabulous ideas for saving money this summer?

*Rosie*