A Revelation

New shoes. Holy cow, what a difference!

I looked at the soles of my old ones, actually the first Nikes that I'd got three years ago. Now they do duty as my every day shoe, where they park with my feet under my desk most of the time. There's a lot of wear on the sole, and it's all on the outside, meaning that as I roll forward on my foot, with these shoes I've been rolling forward on the outside.

At the shoe store, I had the sales guy give me the once over to figure out what kind of shoe I should have, cuz I never remember, nor do I trust the last diagnosis. And what he said was I don't pronate much. Even as I was pacing up and down the aisle for him, I was noticing that I was mostly on the outside of the foot.

My shoes have been stability shoes, meaning they keep a light pronator from pronating. So for me, since I don't pronate, they've been pushing my foot to roll forward on the outside. Which means strain on heel pads and IT bands. Go figure.

I was sitting there for a long time, trying on first the Adidas, then the New Balance. Switching back and forth, going for a stroll down the aisle each time. The Mizunos had my attention for a few minutes with their big roomy toe box, but that was almost too much. The Adidas were just a tiny bit snug, so in the end, I went for the New Balance, which I at one time was certain I'd never do. My only other try with that brand was disasterous. Oh, and the Adidas were a gorgeous day-glo green, which I was really drawn to, but the New Balance consolation is that they are a fabulous brilliant orange.

I took it easy tonight, just a light run to 14th Street and back. Cool and a little windy, but not a bad running environment. A few others out; I guess most Sunday runners get out in the morning, something I need to get back into. My heel is painless, and my knee is certainly no worse than when I started. I'm surprisingly happier with these shoes, than I was when I got my first Sauconys.

Distance: 6.92 km. Time: 40:08. Average speed: 10.3 kph (5:50 min/km).

Shoes: New Balance 1061.

Weather: Mainly sunny and 8C.