Like Running on Big Cushy Socks

Ahh. I found my shoe.

The Asics Gel-Kayano XI I'm very glad I went to a running store to buy new shoes. The salesperson did a full assessment of my feet, how I walk, run, etc. He brought maybe 4 or 5 pair for me to try, and run in each. A couple felt good, like, ok, I can run in these... but then he brought out the Kayanos... and I felt like I was running on big cushy socks. I said, "These are my shoes".

We talked about my gait and how my foot mechanic looks while in motion, which made me laugh really loud. He said, "I don't think I can quite imitate it". Haha! I asked if I should be doing anything differently, and he said no, don't think about it while you're running, that's just your natural gait. He mentioned that if I get really serious, I could always hire a coach and they could help, but I do run for fun, so I doubt that would ever be necessary.

He gave me 4 pairs of free socks and a water bottle! I thought that was very generous.

I had expected to spend about $150 on running shoes. My old Nikes were around $85, but that was years ago. I could have bought one of the less expensive shoes that felt good, but I am all about comfort and injury prevention, and I know I'll get lots of use out of them, so I went with the best feeling pair.

Oh, about my old Nikes. They are Nike Air Trail. I didn't think that mattered too much... he flipped them over and knew they were trail shoes because of the heavy tread and the fact that they are extremely flexible. No wonder my poor heel had no support! He said they have very little cushioning or support, they're just meant to crawl over rocks and stuff lol. Which, uh, I don't do very often. Even on the trail.

After I left the store I went on a quick run downtown (where I was asked by a young man if I would like to get a scalp massage sometime - actually he said "massage scalp - oh I said that backwards... just for you!") and the shoes felt awesome. I am ready for the race!