Shopping For Shoes

My foot is getting better. I can run again. In fact I can even drop boys running.....this is cause celeb. Like a Hollywood celebrity I have been going to rehab. Like a drug seeker I stalked Md's until I had a Rx for physical therapy. Low and behold things are shaping up. Anyway one of my tasks in this therapy is determining the cause of the injury and addressing it. Some people blame my running shoes as there have been many anecdotal injuries associated with the Newton's. They tend to require people to run in a certain way to be beneficial and if you don't run in that way...... trouble. However I have been pretty darn comfortable and injury free for over a year of running in them. (Well there was that IT band syndrome....but that followed sand running in racing flats....different story) In my case I think it may have been a combination of factors. To be on the safe side I decided I would entertain the idea of trying some other shoes.them. It was suggested that I go to Road Runner Sports and try normal running shoes.

Road Runner allows customers to try shoes on the treadmill. They also give customers 60 days to use the shoes at which point you are "encouraged" to exchange them for another pair. Hmmm. I can just imagine.... me with my 60 day old, dirt caked, shoes in the box stating my dissatisfaction and asking for a new pair.

I stroll into Road Runner and pick out 5 pairs of shoes to try and head to the treadmill. It seems the sales clerk doesn't really care to fetch me any of these shoes. It's sort of like pulling teeth. He seems to want me to try 5 different pairs of shoes not in my size that I haven't selected. I later realize it is because some of the shoes are stored next door in a warehouse next door and require a fork lift to fetch them. (Not really the customers problem right). I throw on the first pair of shoes while he looks for the others. I start running on the treadmill.

Boy these feel great...on a flat smooth treadmill at 7 mph. Soon I turn the treadmill up. I am at 0.5 miles and he's still not back with the other pairs. Actually he is standing and chatting with the other sales associates. I keep running. I'm a busy girl and I want to optimize my time. Plus, I like this treadmill. Finally I get off the treadmill and see to expediting the process of getting my shoes. They are at the desk but I guess he wanted to see me run a whole mile before I got them. Back on the treadmill for another half mile......boy these feel great too. I love this treadmill. I am going really fast now and sweating. I don't care as I am getting another half mile in. I might accomplish my entire run in the store. The next pair comes and I run only a 1/4 mile because the forefoot is too thin and I think I would feel every pebble. I like to run off road. I try another pair. I think they feel great too.
All of the shoes I try on feel a bit baggy side to side and in volume but not in length. However when I start running on the treadmill they feel amazing. I keep turning up the pace and running faster and faster. I just can't help myself. I keep running just a little bit further. I am sweating now but the larger that life picture of Heather Fuhr running at Torrey Pines is motivating me. I turn the pace up a bit.
I overhear the lady in a pencil skirt telling her sales associate she doesn't think she could run like that and nodding at me. I hear the words "treadmill princess" uttered by the sales associate. Duh......your wearing a pencil skirt and nylons......I'm wearing running shorts with a sports bra on under my shirt. This is Road Runner.
I love this treadmill. I wonder if they'll sell it to me. Then it hits me....the shocking truth. This treadmill is like the skinny mirror. Like the mirror's in Nordstom's or Banana Republic which along with it's generously inflated sizing makes you think you are a rock star. Then you go home and go out and when the pictures come back you are like ahhhh.......what was I thinking listening to that sales person saying I looked fabulous. This is no simulation to the curvy, winding road off the side of a mountain I run daily. What they really need is a canted treadmill with a pot hole to dodge every minute and curbs to hop. Along with friendly dogs who run under foot to sniff me in midstride and dog poo to dodge. Now that's the real world. I pictured myself with baggy heavy shoes on the Wildflower course and that narrowed down my choices. I'd break my ankle for sure.
I decided that picking out new running shoes was much more difficult than picking out a wedding dress or wedding shoes. My princess shoes as my mother stated. They actually have achieved good reviews from friends of mine. I settled for a pair. I still think I like my Newton's better but these ones felt like cushy Cadillac's. Remind me in 60 days to exchange if I'm not 100% satisfied. I'll do it on a rainy day so I can again use the treadmill.