Shoes

I started running again in 2011 after taking two years off from running when I got injured, a cumulative, debilitating ankle injury (an "extra bone" in my left foot which was abrading my tibial tendon) after almost a  decade of highly satisfying recreational running during the new millennium during which I dropped 50 pounds and had a lot of life changes, most for the better.  This period of rebirth can be told in running shoes, mostly Aisics although some pairs of shoes were Brooks'.

I used to run 30-40 miles per week and go through three or four pairs of shoes a year.  So when I laid off running in 2009 for two years, I had a backlog of about six pairs of running shoes I'd purchased on discount sites.

When I came back in 2011, I opened a pair of Brooks Addiction as my main shoes and ran through two pairs of leftover used running shoes as well.  In 2012 the process was exactly the same.  Now I had integrated two new pairs of shoes into my bigger system of ready running shoes and gotten rid of four thoroughly worn out pairs.

In 2013 I opened a pair of Aisics Foundations, but alas they were size 12 1/2 and I absolutely am not that size anymore.  They hurt my big toes and I only ran in them two or three times and wore them walking about occasionally.  What do you do with new shoes that don't fit and you can't return?  Anyway, two more used pairs of shoes went out and I used up a seldom-used pair of Reeboks that were hardly ever used because they're ugly and I never trusted their structure.  However they did fine until they literally fell apart on my feet and now they're my knockabout shoes.

Two days ago I opened a pair of Aisic Evolutions, size 13, and they're sharp looking and fit great.  My last two runs have been dreamy, with my feet feeling like they're wearing pillows.  2014 is going to be a great running year.