Beech Tree News Network

Finding the right running shoe is a very tricky situation.  I’d been wearing a pair of white New Balance shoes for a long time.  I’ve actually been through several pair.  Years ago, I had a blue and grey pair of Sketchers Go Run.  The problem with those, and if you’re a fellow runner, pay close attention: they weren’t substantial.  They prided themselves on a lite shoe.  They weren’t kidding! I felt like I was running the treadmill in my bare feet.  After a short time, my pinkie toe began to hurt.  I promptly got off the treadmill and took my shoe off.  My toe was bleeding! That was the end of those shoes.  Straight to the trash they went. In fact, I stayed off the treadmill for a few weeks so my toe could heal.  Not my first or last toe ailment.

I next had a pair of Nike’s.  They weren’t specifically running shoes but I figured they would suffice.  They were actually pretty good for a long time.  I’ve always been a Nike fan so their longevity didn’t surprise me.  Sure, I ran into the occasional shoestring issue i.e. strings kept untying, one string shorter than the other, etc. 

I branched out and tried a lite pair of Asics similar to the Sketchers I wrote of earlier.  I liked these shoes.  They were more substantial than the Sketchers.  The shoes were black with green shoe strings.  Perhaps a big reason I liked them were that green and black is DX colors.  They were pretty good so I ran with them for a long time.  In an unrelated incident, I broke a few toes and had to take six weeks off my running regimen.  When you’re an avid exerciser, six weeks off is very difficult!

I still remember getting back on the horse.  I was chomping at the bit.  I usually did an hour on the ‘mil.  For the first week, however, I could only do 10, then 20, then 30 minutes.  I finally got back to my regular hour time.  It was at this point that I decided to move my white New Balance shoes downstairs as my running shoes.  They were great! I’d already been wearing them for quite some time so that feeling of “got to break them in” wasn’t there. 

I’d been wearing those for years up until a few weeks ago.  The rubber was coming off.  I’d already replaced the insoles previously so they were a little worn.  There was a nice burial.  It was a beautiful service.  Just kidding.   I threw them in the trash.  I was off to buy new running shoes.  I made a few cardinal mistakes.  I bought from Kohls(not a specialty running store).  The employees at non-specialty running shoe stores aren’t trained in the art.  They’re just there to make a buck.  Those were my two big mistakes.  I did ask the guy what running shoe was best.  I picked up the hint I was barking up the wrong tree when the guy was like “um, maybe these.  I don’t know”.  You’d think I’d know better.  But hey, I was in a bind.  I’d already thrown away the New Balance shoes.  I tried the shoes on in store.  I walked around a bit in them and I bought them.

A few days into running in these non-running shoes and I knew there was a problem.  It hurt to even take a step.  Turns out that a place had formed on the sole of my right foot.  Clearly those shoes are going back.  Also, I haven’t been running in a week or so on account of not having the correct shoes and foot hurting.  Let that be a lesson to you: go to the experts no matter how long you may have to wait or if your journey is a little bit farther or out of the way entirely.  Don’t ever settle! Wait, am I still talking about shoes? I suppose “don’t ever settle” could be applied to lots of situations in life, couldn’t it?