New Shoes!

I have to admit, writing a post about getting new shoes sure does make me feel like a real runner. Also, I have to admit that the idea to even share this with you is totally something I first saw on my friend Teagen's blog. She recently wrote a post sharing about her new shoes and retiring her previous pair - which is where the idea for this post came from.

My Mizuno Wave Rider 11's- size 8

It's hard to say exactly how many miles I put on my first pair of shoes, I wasn't keeping track of mileage very closely until I started training for the half marathon. Before that, I was doing interval training to prepare for the 5k and 10k races and I felt like it was cheating to count the miles where I was walking any part. Oh well! These pretty pink ladies were there for me when I first tried the Couch to 5k program back after Christmas. I made it to run #2 of week 2 before my knees were absolutely killing me and I could barely walk. I learned later that I'd been bouncing off the tips of my toes, which is BAD if you're trying to run distance. That technique is for sprinters. Oops. Then I stuffed these poor gals in the closet and forgot about them until April when I started working out at LA Fitness. They were still comparatively clean, so I decided they'd make a good "inside shoe" to use at the gym. A couple weeks of using the treadmill gave me enough courage to try C25K again. This time I had no pain and, I'm happy to say, I was inspired to sign up for the Half Marathon as a "big goal" and then picked the 5k and 10k races to help me work towards it. These pretty ladies spent a week in the drawer under my oven. Ethan likes to put shoes in there, and did so before I realized how much he loved to do it. I was complaining one afternoon about how I couldn't find them and it was making me really upset, and Daniel suggested that I look in the oven drawer. "I found a pair of my shoes in there once." And there they were. (I also found our friend Linda's stereo face attachment one day after they'd visited... my son likes to hide things.) I wore these shoes for my first 5k in July, and for my first 10k in October. I'm a little sad to be retiring them, but they started telling me about a month ago that their running days were over. Now they are retired to general "comfy shoe" status, and I'm excited to have a nice pair of supportive shoes to wear around town (and the house) instead of bumming around in my arch-destroying flip-flops all the time.

The New Kids: Asics Gel-Landreths size 7.5

These beauties got their first run in today. I ran 4 miles in my neighborhood; one out to Glendoveer Fitness Trail, 2 around the trail, and one back home. My toes were numb by the end, but I remember that being an issue when I first started wearing the other shoes too... not sure what that's about. But no blisters, no shin or knee or hip pain, and they have a nice round toe-box and mesh cover so they're really roomy and breathable - but not so much that I'm flopping around.

A special thanks to the people at Fit Right Northwest. They have a shop down on NW 23rd and Northrup, and were awesome to work with! I was nervous about trying to find a new pair of shoes, but they made it really simple. They did a gait analysis - where they filmed my feet running on the treadmill and noted how my feet were landing and rolling out of the step. Then they helped me find a pair of shoes that would offer the proper support for how I run. I tried on three different pairs and brands, and they let me run on the treadmill with them to see how they felt, and talked me through the differences between each shoe. I paid cash and walked out with my brand new shoes. Such a proud moment!

I look forward to the many adventures I'll have with these guys.