in other news i actually prefer listening to stories and discussion than music while i'm running. i get bored with music easily, and don't spend enough time managing my ipod playlists. podcasts would be the answer, but discovering the ones i like and managing them seems to be a pain in the arse too. so i joined audible.com for a free trial - it's a monthly subscription thing. the first book i downloaded goes for 8 hours. which was fine until i discovered the functionality of my phone didn't allow me to scroll through the chapters, and unless i ran for 8 hours continuously i wouldn't be able to hear the story (just the first one and a half chapters). it's a lame book but it still holds my interest, and distracts me from my huffing and puffing.

i chose to run with my phone so i can call someone in an emergency ("there's a bear chasing me/my shoe fell apart/i'm huuungry") and so i can listen to the fm radio, which my ipod does not have. and i don't want an iphone (they are wanky, and the htc is better). or any other i-anything. well, maybe an ipad, so i can get a newspaper subscription for $4.95 a month...

so anyway i put the story on my ipod, and run with both my ipod and my phone.

of course, my free trail subscription to audible.com finished, and my credit card has been charged since at US$15 a month. and because i hadn't used the book credits i didn't cancel the subscription in case they took the credits away. yesterday i finally used my credits to buy some biographies which i will enjoy listening to. one is by michael j fox. in fact, i've decided to keep my audible membership, cos $18/month is ok if it pays for my motivation to run twice a week - or more.

we can chalk it up to the costs of staying fit, which are a necessary expense in this household.

we have swimming memberships and a squash/gym membership. we buy expensive running shoes every 6 months. we pay game fees such as basketball and soccer. sometimes, we pay for physio. the $600 exercise bike was a good investment as we still use it when it rains or we haven't had a chance to do anything else. hopefully the dumbbells will work out the same way. there's also the apparel - right up to and including expensive sports bras.

but it it keeps us active and fit, it's worth it! better than a stupid sky subscription.