0 Miles in my New Shoes

I bought myself some new shoes today. It was quite a process and I visited many stores, but I finally found them. Even if they weren't actually what I was looking for.

I started off the morning at Running Wild trying on a Asics GT2100 men's 9B. It had this annoying bar going across the ball of my foot and it wasn't a good fit. I then went to Famous Footwear and tried on a size 10, exactly like the shoe that I already own. It felt snug but I was willing to go with it because I've been running in a size 10 without any problems, though I can't say that I have run 26 miles in them either.

This afternoon we took Megan to the big mall 45 minutes away so that she can play in the 'mall park'. I left Jason watching her play while I went shopping!!! It's so fun shopping after you have lost some weight!!! Anyhow, I checked out Foot Locker, Lady's Foot Locker and the Finish Line looking for a size 10.5 in the Asics 2100. I was told the same thing in each store, they don't make 1/2 sizes after a size 10. I don't know if this is true or not but it's what the folks at these stores were telling me.

My last stop was at Scheel's which is a pretty big sporting goods store. I was given the same old story about the no 1/2 sizes after size 10, so I gave him my story. Size 10's seem to fit fine, but I'm fixin to run a marathon and was told I needed a larger size shoe. He agreed that I needed a larger shoe and had me try on a size 11. My foot slid all over that shoe and I told him it was no good that it just wasn't going to work. So he bent down and re-tied my shoe for me. And wouldn't ya know it .... it fit a lot better after he tied it. I apparently don't tie my shoe tight enough, nor did I know this little shoe lace trick that he did that apparently scoots your heel towards the back of the shoe. I have tried on shoes four times at Running Wild, a specialty running shoe store, and never did I receive the kind of shoe service as I did today. The best thing is, if these shoes don't work out for me, I can return them and get my money back. That is definitely a feel good.

So tomorrow, I'm running 18 miles in my brand new shoes. I am going to park my car at the mid point of the trail again and leave my old shoes in the car just in case. I don't expect to need them, but you never know.

It is such a relief to finally get these new shoes so that I can get them broke in appropriately before the big day.