Running In Place

So, my initial plan was to drive to the sneaker place some 60 miles west today to get some betterfasterstronger footwear. We’ve got a local, independently owned sneaker place right here – but it’s been kind of hit or miss for me in terms of getting the guidance I need. For example, the very first time I walked into Local Sneaker Place the only thing I knew was that I had high arches – so cute salesgirl put me into some Nike model, said it looked good, and sent me on my way. It turned out not to be the right shoe for me – it forced my foot to roll farther inward than was natural and I was constantly correcting the direction of my feet. And I ended up with a stress fracture in an unusual place on my ankle (which caused it to be several weeks before it was appropriately diagnosed). The next time I went in, I was helped by a muscular young man who really took some time to explore my needs, got me on the treadmill, and found me the shoe that I have been faithful to for 3 years (no, not the same pair for 3 years). Some bit later, when I returned for replacements I was sad to find that my Asics Gel-Nimbus 6′s were long gone and it was time to upgrade. Except that the 7s were WAY different. More rigid, less cushioned – instantly uncomfortable. When I expressed that to this salesperson (who was non-descript enough to not even get a title), he was all like, ‘it’s the same model, and the new version, it’s better.’ I didn’t get ‘em and, thankfully, I was able to stay in the way-back machine and order some 6s online. Unpleasantness averted. Till now.

But, having gotten up late and lazed around, as bachelorettes are wont to do, I didn’t care to dive into the long drive – so I thought I’d give my local boys another chance. As luck would have it, my draw was a shaved-head, tattooed runner dude – how serendipidous is that!! First of all, he totally acknowledged my complaint about the Nimbus progression (they’re now on version 9) – he said so many people have moved away from that model that he wonders why they even carry it. Then he took me through some different brands with attributes similar to my 6s. Interestingly, I found there is such a thing as too much cushion – some of those sneaks felt like walking on platform pillows. But in the end, I found my way back to Asics with the Cumulus 9. It felt just like the old days. So I did the guy a solid back and bought some Merrills too.

In the bad shopping department. I can only tell you that if there’s anything I put off longer than buying new sneaks, it’s buying new bras. Why can’t I have the cute little lacey number? Why can’t I have some delicate straps and 1 or 2 cute little clasps?? For me it’s the Jane Russell, steel underwire, mile wide straps and 4 to 6 clasps “posture bra.” Not. Cute. Can we please get some female engineers in on this??? Everybody else has figured out form/function. Meanwhile I am just trying to find some place between bra-less hippie and fembot. Somebody help a sister out!