Hey! I Put My New Shoes On

[Thank you, Diana, for asking about my new trailing running shoes that I mentioned yesterday. You inspired this post!]

Soundtrack for this post: Paolo Nutini’s “New Shoes”

Until I went to RunTex a few years ago, I didn’t know much about my feet except that they’re big (size 10 running shoes!) and wide and prefer get-away shoes (big black boots!) to heels.

According to the experts at RunTex, I have a neutral foot and a high arch. Science!

I’ve written love letters about my running shoes here and here. The Brooks Defyance I wore for the half marathons last year are like clouds for my feet. I love them! They’re very comfortable, and I had no knee, hip, or back issues with them. Best running shoes for me EVER.

For the Bataan Memorial Death March, our team is walking the 26.2 miles, and the course is mostly off-road – lots of sand and dirt. Rather than hiking boots, Dave and I decided to try trail running shoes. We used the Shoe Finder at Runner’s World to get recommendations. And then, because we were too lazy to get our asses out of the house on a holiday afternoon – and because Dave wears a size 15 and they’re never in stock, even at awesome Run-Tex – we ordered from Zappos.com.

I actually do feel kinda dirty about that, but I promise to redeem myself my buying my replacement Brooks Defyance running shoes at RunTex. In person, right down the street from my house.

Anyway, back to my new trial running shoes. We narrowed our results to “Editor’s Choice” with the Runner’s World shoe finder, and to my delight, one of the picks was a Brooks model: Brooks Cascadia 4. Mine are magenta and silver (sweet!) and Dave’s are red and silver (like superhero shoes).  (If you really want to geek out, there’s video on this page of a dude singing the praises of these shoes.)

Our plan is to break them in by running on the trail around the lake and to take them on some longer hikes in the greenbelt. They won’t look this pretty and sparkly for long!