$99 Aqua-socks

I finally bought a new pair of running shoes. Since college, I’ve been running almost exclusively in an old pair of Nike racing flats. I’m sure they’re called some combination of the words: air, zoom, streak, and racer… maybe there’s a vapor in there too… but whatever, they’re five years old and I can’t remember exactly what snazzy name Nike came up with for them. The point is that even though my yearly mileage has been comparable to that of a high school girl’s softball player, five years is a long time for a pair of racing flats and since I’m kinda-sorta running again, I should probably reward myself with a new pair of shoes.

Before I get into the shoes that I bought, I want to set the record straight on a couple popular running shoe myths.

1) “You need to replace your shoes every X miles.”
I think most people are told that they should replace their shoes something crazy like every 200-300 miles. That’s is a great plan if you’re a recreational jogger who only runs three days a week or if you’re a running store who makes money by selling shoes to recreational joggers who only run three days a week. But in college, that would have meant replacing our shoes every fortnight, which was impossible even with the handful of free pairs we were given.

Modern running shoes are incredibly durable. Unless you’re in something like the five-finger whatchamacallit (which we’ll address in a minute), your shoes were built to survive some heavy pounding. Replace them when you can tell they’re getting worn out, or when you want a snazzy new pair that looks cool. Don’t feel compelled to buy new shoes just because they passed some made-up mileage barrier.

2) “The human body was meant to run barefoot.”
I’ll be honest, I haven’t read Christopher McDougall’s book. I’m sure it’s really good and that he makes some excellent points. But the new hipster craze over barefoot running is ridiculous. It just is. I’d consider myself a “minimalist” when it comes to running shoes. In college, I frequently trained in racing flats and generally wore the least amount of shoe I could get away with. I did a lot of secondary runs barefoot on grass and even product tested the Nike Free. So I completely agree that for a lot of people, less is more when it comes to running shoes. We probably don’t need the three pounds of rubber and foam that shoe companies are super-gluing to the bottom of our feet nowadays. But running barefoot isn’t some magical solution that will take away your injuries and make you a 2:15 marathoner. And that’s what I have a problem with -- that and how hideous the five-finger fuglies are.

Modern day Americans are obsessed with the quick fix. Whether it’s some new diet that will allow them to drop 30 pounds in two weeks while still eating half a pizza and a case of beer a night, or whether it’s these amazing new shoes that have separate slots for each of your toes and will somehow take away all your running problems. First of all, having all those separate slots for each toe is idiotic. Go run barefoot in the grass and tell me if your toes ever act individually. They don’t, they’re just a big clump of ugly co-dependant stubs. Never, in the thousands of miles that I’ve run have I ever thought “Boy, if only my second pinky toe was a little bit stronger”. We’re not monkeys, we don’t need our toes to be spread apart like that. Why can’t the makers of the five-finger shoes put all our toes in the same pouch and call the shoe what it really is, a $99 aqua-sock.

Again, my beef isn’t with minimalist/barefoot running movement/cult -- except I do think those shoes are ugly and overpriced. I agree with them on most things. My problem is that people think running without wearing shoes is a short-cut, when in reality, it’s a very small part of the bigger picture. The key to getting in shape and avoiding injuries, and the reason some random tribes in Africa can run a gajillion miles is slowly but surely building your fitness and running lots and lots of miles. Those African tribes have been doing nothing but running since they were old enough to walk. That’s the real reason that they never get hurt and can seemingly run forever. They have the greatest aerobic base on the planet. If you want to improve your running form, lose some weight, and break your PRs, the best way to do that is to stop thinking so much and just run more. Period.

As for me, I decided on a new pair of shoes the same way any logical person would. I went to eastbay.com, searched for size 9 Nike running shoes and sorted by price. I bought the cheapest pair I could find, a $39.99 pair of Luna Racers... in bright orange. My color selection was limited, but at least orange will go with my Tim Tebow jersey.

As for mileage this week:
Sunday: 0
Monday: 3.03
Tuesday: 3.64
Wednesday: 3
Thursday: 4.22
Friday: 4.22
Saturday: 9.2
Total: 27.31