Ahhhhh. I was just about due for new running shoes (I can always tell it's time for new shoes when my left knee starts to hurt), and I finally made it to Fleet Feet tonight. I have hated my most recent pair of running shoes. They are Asics something or other, and they just didn't do it for me. Any runner can tell you that your shoes are important. Good shoes are sometimes the only thing standing between you and injury. This is why I buy my shoes at Fleet Feet rather than spending $30 to $50 less to buy them at some discount outlet.
Anyhow, something wasn't right with the Asics. And by the time I really realized it, it seemed too late to take them back. Also, I ran the soggy half-marathon in them about a week after I bought them, so returning them would have been...interesting. Hi, would you mind taking these muddy ass shoes back? Thanks so much! Ultimately, I ended up with plantar fascitis, which my friend the PT says is almost always due to bad shoes. (And yes, I know that I just got done saying how important it is to be fitted at a running store for running shoes and then followed that by saying that I got a bad pair of shoes. But that happens sometimes. I'd say I've had a 95% success rate at Fleet Feet.)
The thing is, I LOVED the shoes I had before the Asics. Mizunos. But when I went into Fleet Feet a week before the half, they didn't have the Mizunos I was wearing. Plus, the Mizunos I was wearing were too small. My toe was hitting the top of the toe box (or whatever the fancy running guys call it). This is what I get for buying shoes at Universal Sole. Although, to be fair, there does seem to be enough room in the toe box of those shoes under normal circumstances. It's only after an eight-mile run on an 80-degree day that the Mizunos started to feel too small.
Anyhow, long story short, I'm back in my beloved Mizunos, only this time I got a size 8.
The real test will be tomorrow's run. I'm hopeful that the Mizunos and I will be very happy together. We've got a long summer ahead of us: the Lakefront 10, the 13.1 half, and the Chicago marathon (if they make it that long). Let's hit the road!
Oh, another fun side note. I heard one of the sales girls talking to the guy she was fitting for shoes about upcoming races. They were both signed up for the Shamrock Shuffle (an 8K). She asked the guy what his time was last year. This is a question that always makes me cringe. Do you want to tell the fancy running store clerk what your fastest 8K time is? Typically, my answer would be no. Ah, but this time.... The clerk went on to say that she is shooting to finish in under an hour this year. I'm actually faster than someone! My best 8K time is 52:52. In your face!
[Editor's note: Actually, I'm even faster than I remember. My best 8K time is 52:06. I'm a superstar!]
No comments:
Post a Comment