This weekend, a bunch of my friends came to town to run the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler. It was a blast! Much of the weekend was spent joking about how in college, we were so lazy, we would order pizza rather than walk to the dining hall, and now we were voluntarily running ten miles. And we weren't even being chased!
Reviewing my budget over the past year or so, it's clear that I am spending more and more money on fitness-related expenses - running gear, swimming gear, race entry fees, travel to races, etc. That's definitely not a bad thing though! I try to be careful about not buying too many unnecessary items, and take good care of my gear so that it doesn't wear out too fast. It is fun to travel for races, or get a group together to run. For this race, we didn't even run together, just met up afterwards (we all run at different paces).
I guess this probably qualifies as my hobby. I don't know that I think of buying socks as a hobbyist's expense, but in a way, running is my hobby. It's just convenient that it's also a good way to keep in shape.
Of course, this hobby could be getting significantly more expensive in the next year or so. The triathlon bug has been put in my ear and it's buzzing away. Step one, buy a bike.