Running shoes, that is.
See, after the wedding this weekend – where I ate too much food and drank too much sparkling wine – we stopped off at CrossIron Mills in Calgary before dropping my brother off at the airport. Mom wanted to find a more breathable running jacket and possibly some new running shoes.
I have been long overdue for a new pair of runners myself, so we wandered off to the Running Room. That is a very fancy running store with lots of fancy running stuff in it.
The Little Sales Clerk came over and asked if she could help us. My mom, who has already had a Running Room employee do the assessment on her knew what kind of shoes she needed, but I haven't, so I didn't know. I just figured, hey, I've always bought Sauconys, I might as well keep using them, right?
Well, Little Sales Clerk had me do the barefoot walk across the store. After walking down the aisle and back, she determined that I am an overpronator and that I wear down my shoes on the outside of my heel and the inside edge of the ball of my feet.
It was like she'd known my feet my whole life!
I always noticed that I wore down the outside heel of pretty much every pair of shoes I've ever owned, but I never really thought that it would effect my running in any way. I'm a little slow sometimes.
So once we figured that out, Little Sales Clerk showed me the shoes that someone with my gait should be wearing. I have to say, I was a little disappointed in the selection. The other types of shoes came in all sorts of pretty colours, while the shoes I get to wear were just boring white or grey with a single colour accent.
I wanna wear neon rainbow shoes, goddammit!
Sigh. Fine. I'll try those Sauconys on the wall. They have green and purple, that's almost as good.
Meanwhile, Mom had gone and found a pair on the bargain table that were last year's model of one of the store's top end shoes. Unfortunately, she's an 8.5, and they only had a 9 in those shoes.
Guess who wears a size 9 running shoe?
So I put the purple/green/grey Saucony one one foot and the white and turquoise Asics on the other and walked around the store. First off, holy shitballs I had no idea what a huge difference a proper running shoe would make it how it feels when I walk. Second, god-fucking-dammit, the Asics felt waaaaaay better than the Sauconys.
I am not destined to have pretty running shoes, it would seem.
Hello, shoes! Let's go for a walk!
That was on Saturday. It's now Wednesday and I've been wearing the shoes every morning when I go for my little hike/jog.
I never realized how wrong my old shoes were until I got these ones. Ever since I started running (by which I mean slow jogging) I have gotten pain in my calves that feels like a steel spike had been rammed up the back of my leg. I just figured that was my legs getting used to the running and eventually it would go away.
It never did. Until now.
I haven't had that pain since I started wearing these shoes. I don't know if that's because most of our jogging has been downhill or something, but I'm actually astounded.
So even though they aren't pretty, I'm very happy with my new shoes. We're going to go on many long walks and runs and hikes and everything this summer.
Just Keep Running,
Ginger.
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