Finding the right fit

It’s been over two years now since I purchased my last pair of athletic shoes. At the time I bought them I freaked out because they were running shoes, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to make a commitment to run.

Little did I know.

They’ve been brave warriors and supported me as I learned I could in fact be a runner. They’ve now taken me through four separate 5Ks, three with running as my intent and my fourth this weekend as more of a walk.

Oh the miles these shoes have seen! They’ve taken me through my trip to New York, Yellowstone twice, my first visit to Zion National Park and just this last week all over Chicago. I could list my miles here but I’m going to hold off.

As I’m sure you can imagine, they’re a little worse for the wear. It’s more than time to retire them.

But that meant I had to go shoe shopping for new athletic shoes. * Sigh *

Don’t get me wrong, I love shoe shopping as much as the next girl . . . just not for athletic shoes. I never know what type or brand to get. I want to make sure I get the pair that will best fit my needs and is within my price range. Cross trainers? Running shoes? Walking shoes? I’m just not sure.

That’s why I spent probably an hour on Saturday night at DSW trying on all kinds of shoes. One of the salespeople asked if she could help and I explained what I was looking for. She suggested a brand I’d seen but wasn’t familiar with so I thought why not give it a try? So I did.

Cue the hallelujah chorus! I tried a few other pairs just to be sure, but they were super comfortable and a reasonable price too. Yippee!

The only problem is that having had dark shoes for several years now I absolutely didn’t want white shoes. They show dirt so much more clearly. Alas, this is what I ended up with, but they’re so comfortable that right now I think it’s going to be fine.

Now I can’t wait to exercise this week to break them in.