WOAH.

So as I said in my last post, I went out this afternoon to my local running specialty store and picked up some running shoes.

I always used to buy my running shoes from the discount store. I would pick a pair that were cute and felt nice and were under $60 and then wear them until they had holes. No wonder I'm hurting.

At Front Runners, the nice old Dutch fellow said first of all, "those aren't even running shoes!" He then looked at my feet and watched me walk back and forth a few times. Amazing! I've never had anyone pay this much attention to my feet!

Right away he said that my ankles are weak, and then noticed my painful bunion-looking-but-def-not-a-bunion thingy on my toe/foot joint area. He picked a couple of shoes for me to try, with and without inserts. We ended up agreeing that the Hokas were the right shoes for me.

Mine are purple!

He said that these shoes will be kind to my feet & joints, save my ouchie toe from extra impact & pain, and help my steps be more efficient. I really like how they feel. They're very lightweight, comfortable, and supportive.

We also chit-chatted about how tiring it can be working in a technical retail job, and it turned out he knew a lot of the folks I used to work with at the camera store. Small world (town)!

When @mstafford came home from work, we went out together for a really short little jog to test out the new kicks. No ankle pain, though they still felt a bit tight. No knee pain at all, and no toe pain.

SUCCESS!!

Now to get training back on track.

If you're thinking about getting into running/new running shoes, please go to a proper specialty store! You won't regret it!

Peace & Love!