It's not about age or size...

JUST LOOK AT THOSE BIG FEET!
Age shouldn't affect you. 
It's just like the size of your shoes -
they don't determine how you live your life!
~Steven Morrissey

"Age shouldn't affect you. It's just like the size of your shoes - they don't determine how you live your life!"  ~Steven Morrissey

One of the attractions to running is that among sports, running ranks tops in thriftiness.  No team fees, only as much travel as you want, ie, you can pay to run in a lot of races, or you can open your door for free and trot down the road.  The only necessity unless you're a barefoot runner (in which case you better have a good podiatrist) is a worthy pair of shoes.  Both Alison and I have actually worn through the bottoms of the old running shoes we had been using, so we designated tonight as the evening we would finally purchase the footwear we will use to run through the fall.  We did our research before we left for the store.

There is a lot to consider in a good shoe.  It's very important to have a lot of cushion between the runner and the road, especially if you're trying to avoid knee/hip joint issues, like I am.  Based on the wear pattern on the bottom of my current sneakers, I also have a substantial amount of pronation, along with a longer left and wider right.  No wonder I can't walk in a straight line.    Before you go looking for new running shoes, be sure to check out these two information sources:


TheRunningAdvisor.com's "Simple Steps for Choosing a Running Shoe Guide"


Coolrunning.com's "Running Shoe Guide for Dummies"


Armed with this information, we entered the Ann Arbor Running Fit store.  We mentioned all of our criteria for fit, that we're planning to run 1/2 marathons in October, and that we're currently running about 20 miles per week.  We took our old shoes with us, and enjoyed the odd view from the bottoms of our feet when we stood on the special machine that showed our pronation and pressure points, The knowledgeable sales people listened and measured, and brought several boxes with different manufacturers' labels out of the back room.  We both tried on a few pair until we felt comfortable. The shocker came not at the cash register (very good shoes = saved joints = $$), but when we went for a walk after we got home and looked down.  WOW.  All we could see were VERY BIG SHOES at the ends of our legs.  WOW.


After spending a lifetime wearing fashion footwear, I expected to see the same feet I've been looking at for the last few decades. Now, after putting on a pair of shoes that truly fit, I couldn't believe how big my feet looked.  Alison said the same thing.  WOW again.  


Well, tomorrow is a 4 mile run for me, so I'll still be wearing the old worn comfy shoes, so that I can break in the new shoes on a shorter run. I can't wait!
Até amanhã... 
8/4/11 - 2.0 miles | 21 mins | 5. mph | 213 kcal