New shoes

I bought my first pair of running shoes this weekend. That's not quite right. These are the first running shoes I've paid for myself. I've bought dress shoes, casual shoes, hiking shoes, and climbing shoes for myself, but never running shoes. My last pair was the last pair of shoes my parents bought for me. I was in my first year at college and running like a madman, but giving myself tendonitis by doing so in shoes I'd had since junior high. It was Spring of 2000 when Mom and Dad took me to the mall and bought me proper running shoes. I put hundreds of miles and several races on those shoes in the intervening 13 years. A seam in the instep burst almost immediately, making them much more comfortable, but last week they finally broke beyond repair.

People had been giving me a hard time about my shoes for a while already. Apparently you are supposed to replace running shoes every couple of months or after every third run or some such nonsense. I figure as long as there is still rubber on the bottom and the laces still hold, they are probably fine. The tendonitis didn't come back, so why spend money on shoes I only wear in the dark to run through mud? Rosie doesn't care what's on my feet as long as I take her out every morning.

Minimalist running shoes are the "next big thing," but I think it makes sense. Our bodies are built to run, so why strap pillows to our feet to do it? It just leaves the foot weakened and more susceptible to injury. What doesn't make sense is how much a "minimal" shoe costs. By definition, I bought less shoe, but because it is toxic green and trendy, I still paid the same as a cushy shoe with super duper nano air spring technology. We'll see. I wasn't about to buy those ones with the individual toes. That's just gross. Still, I don't have high hopes of them lasting 13 years, though that did seem a bit much. Five miles in, so far, so good. They were my first pair of shoes to come with a warning that they may cause injury if used too much to start. We'll see.