Redundancy–for running shoes

I tend to get very sentimental about my running shoes.  I only change them every one or two years.  I wait until the last possible moment (like getting a haircut) before buying a new pair.  I usually know I absolutely need a new pair when all the original rubber is gone from the sole and I start getting running injuries.  I love my shoes to be the dirtiest and grimiest they can be.

My last pair of of shoes have lasted me for hundreds, maybe even a thousand, miles.  They’ve been through two half-marathons along with all the training that required. They are a pair of white and blue Asics I bought at a sporting goods store in Newbury a year and a half ago.  They’ve served me well, but they were ready for retirement.

Under the guise of “running some errands”, I left the shoes by the back door at home and visited the same sporting goods shop in Newbury.  I hate buying new shoes (well, all kinds of clothing actually).  There are so many different brands and it seems too tedious to try them all on.

It took me a while, but I finally got the attention of a guy who worked there to help me fitting a new pair.

“Do you have high arches or low arches?” he asked me.  I didn’t understand the question.  I’ve been running for fun since I was 18, but no one had ever asked me that.  I told him I didn’t know what he was talking about.  But I made sure to mention that I’ve been running a long time so he wouldn’t think I was just one of those New Years guys who picks up a pair of shoes a few days before the 1st and then never tough them again.

He made me stand on a little gel heat sensor device.  It was like standing on a big mood ring, so when I stepped off of it, you could see the imprint of my feet.  I’m low arched, but apparently I’ve always worn high arched shoes.  Does this mean I’m flat-footed?  That’s always a bad thing when they talk about it on TV (usually about cops).  Hmm, more internet research is required here, I think.

I picked up a new pair of Asics.  I used to be a Nike man, but admittedly I liked the ads more than anything else.  I also liked to shop at the Nike store in London because it made me feel more athletic.  But, in the end, I find the Asics shoes a lot more comfortable and usually cheaper.

My old shoes, dutifully sitting by the back door, warned me of the blisters and pains I would get from the new pair of shoes—and they were right.  After my first 6-mile run in the shoes, I have blisters on my arches.  Maybe I am high-arched after all, and the machine was wrong.  But, the calluses will form and the new pair of shoes will take me at least a year forward.

I’m training for the marathon this year, so lots of miles need to be piled up.

I couldn’t throw away the old shoes just because all the rubber has disappeared from underneath them.  They’ve become my gardening shoes.  Now, I just have to take up gardening.