I've taken the plunge and invested a mammoth amount of English Pounds in a new pair of running shoes. Watching me prise the card out of my wallet and burst into tears was our very own TurboTortoise who was kind enough to join up with me on my quest. As the shop (Up & Running) was but a skip and a jump from her house, we hooked up at 11:13am and went through a thorough running shoe buying process!
I had my gait analysed again and tried various shoes on the treadmill. Both TT and I were amazed at how a couple of the shoes allowed my left ankle to bend in the most alarming fashion! I guess we are all built differently, but oddly the leg which seemed to be bending the most was NOT the leg which was giving me grief! Weird innit? Anyway, after sweating like some sort of farm animal as I got on and off the treadmill and on two occasions ran down the street in two different pairs, I decided on the Asics GT 2000shoes in diamond white! As TT said, they won't stay white for that long - especially with winter approaching!
So after the shock of paying for them, we bid the nice man farewell who had spent a good 45 minutes with us, discussing and trying different shoes. You really cannot beat going to a proper running shop and deal with staff who actually KNOW what they're talking about. We've all been to the chain sports shops where spotty faced 6th formers who can hardly form a sentence, offer up poor quality footwear with a "Dis is a well cool shoe innit?" noise emitting from their cake holes. It's so worth paying for the right clobber because we put tremendous strain on our ankles, hips and pelvis when running, and it's best to ensure safety on our precious joints - dontcha fink?
So I'm toying with the idea of a parkrun tomorrow and see how my new shoes rock! I'll let you know if I go.
Good luck to all parkrunners tomorrow and all race runners too. May your feet bring you a most welcome PB!
Tally ho!
Dan