Someone has to tell me. Is it weird that I’m this in love with my new running shoes?

About 18 months ago I met my first pair of Brooks shoes. I had Asics and they made my feet hurt. So I went to a shoe store and the guy actually listened to what I had to say (I told him I was training to become a runner so I would be walking and running and let’s be honest, it would be more walking than running but I was dreaming big!) and he dug through the back room and came up with a pair of shoes that made forever brand loyal to Brooks.

Recently I started C25k for a second time to get ready for a Thanksgiving Day 5k. Monday I noticed my feet were starting to hurt. My shoes didn’t look that terrible, but maybe I needed new shoes. I went to an actual shoe store again and they actually watched me walk barefoot (it’s less creepy than it sounds) and then put another Brooks shoe on my foot (it was then that I realized my shoes really were a heaping pile of mess). I loved them! But I tend to love the first thing I try and buy it. I’m never really unhappy, but I should at least try other options, right? I tried three other pairs. The other two Brooks were ok, but not awesome. And the Saucony were just weird and not for me. So I bought the first pair. And I can’t stop thinking about them. The insoles are bright yellow, they have a flame orange arrow on the side, they are clean and new, and they have that new shoe smell. And they are called Defyance. As if to say, I’m overweight and not the fittest I could be, but I’m going to PR at the Thanksgiving 5k, no problem.

I went to the gym today and usually when I buy new shoes and walk into a gym for the first time I think “Man I must look like a tool. Here’s the fat girl walking in with her water and brand new shoes and is going to “work out”. Today I walked into the gym ecstatic to try running in my sweet new kicks and that everyone should admire how awesome and pretty they are. Because today it was “Here’s that thinner girl who’s be running at the gym three times a week (sometimes 1) for almost a year and check out her new shoes.” And that confidence? That my friends, is how a shoe can make you feel like a million bucks.

It’s weird to love these shoes this much, right? Even if it is, I don’t care. They are fabulous.

Hearts and that new sneaker smell
-Liz