Spencer and I are still running; in fact, we’re running four times a week.
I still hate the physical act of running. (Save your breath, I don’t see it happening any time soon since our average morning temperatures are dropping, and so is my attitude.) I do like how I feel afterwards, and I like the fact that even though I haven’t been dropping pounds, I seem to be firming up in new and interesting places.
What has changed is how I feel about shoes.
What’s that? No, no, not like, sassy work shoes. While I have a new kickass pair of 5-inch heeled stilettos for work, I am currently most passionate about my giant, hideous grandpa shoes that I wear running. I’ve known for a long time—since I was old enough to understand my mother complaining about the cost of my Buster Browns—that I have wide, hard to fit feet. It turns out that I have, very nearly, the widest feet you can have (EE) along with a stupendously high instep. This has resulted in my purchasing the most hideous, most expensive, and (damn it) most comfortable sneakers I have ever owned.
In fact, Spencer walked out of the store with two pairs of shoes for the same price as my one, giant, hideous pair. I was inspired to try to buy another pair online, on sale. And so, I broke my decade plus streak of not shopping Nike. I found a pair that was supposed to be wide enough, and for a “neutral pronator” and ordered them – On Clearance! I wore them on Saturday, and fifteen minutes in I was filled with regret.
Have you ever worn shoes so uncomfortable that they gave you a headache? Let me tell you, I now have. It felt like someone had ahold of the outside of my feet, and was pulling them up, attempting to curl them over onto themselves. I wanted to throw myself to the pavement, rip them off, and run bare foot. If we’re having trouble getting criminals to confess, I say we put them in poorly fitted shoes and make them run three miles.
Sincerely, until Saturday I had, apparently, never worn a poorly fitted shoe for physical activity. Before Saturday I kind of pooh-poohed all the people who told me to get fitted for running shoes. You know what? If people are wearing shoes that fit poorly and not realizing it? Everyone should get fitted. Apparently, I lucked out in that my original Adidas Fluids were a good fit, but screwed myself looking for a deal on properly fitted shoes.
Anyway, the shoes that fit are New Balance, and I could only love them more if they didn’t look like Dr. Frankenstein’s monster’s boots… but white… which just makes them look bigger. Seriously, if someone makes a cute, wide shoe that won’t cost me $200 I might build a small temple in their honor.