Mama's Got Some Brand New Shoes.....

Funny how I thought my old ones still looked pretty clean...next to the new ones, not so much. The shoes on the right were officially retired last night with over 470 miles on them. This is kind of a big running milestone for me.

See, I've never really stuck with anything. I have a hard time finishing stuff. I can't tell you how many times I started running again over the last 5 years only to stop after a few weeks. Never could get over the 'ohmygod-Iamsosore' thing on my own. When I ran track and cross country when I was (much) younger, I always had a coach and teammates to push me over that edge. So when I started up again in July of last year, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. On my own. That I could push past the point where I always quit before and actually complete a half marathon. And a full after that.

I bought these shoes last August and they have been a huge part of making my feet happy enough to keep pounding the pavement since then. Happy enough to put over 470 miles on them. Damn. That is more than I've run in my whole life before now. It makes me incredibly proud and strangely, a little sentimental about the shoes that carried me over the finish line of that first half--that got me PR's for the 5 and 10K. Shoes that protected my feet and kept my legs moving and relatively injury free.

I was set on getting the another pair of the same. It was love at first wear with those but I did try on a pair of Saucony's that admittedly had me torn for about 10 minutes. I even ran on the treadmill in the store with one on each foot to be sure. In the end, I went with the Brooks again. For the money, they really last for me. I probably should have replaced them about 75 miles ago, but they still felt better than the Ghost 3's I tried out last week, even with over 400 miles on them. So I knew they'd hold up and get me through my series of half's this spring and I wasn't sure if the Saucony's would. Decision made.

So now, I am gonna get up and put them on. It's long run Saturday. Off I go. Doing my new route from last week but backwards this time. Gonna tackle the hills and stairs earlier - which means I'll be running up Madison. Good thing I've got some new shoes!