Shoes

Either New Balance is making their new trainer with gold or Endless.com needs a better proofer on entering prices. Either way, you will not ever get this much of a savings again.

I noticed today that my shoes, about 8 months old, were starting to feel a little too worn down. Feet are too important to mess with so I ordered a new pair of the exact same shoes.

Knowing that I would get the same thing, I decided that it would be smart to look for a good deal online. I ordered this pair through endless.com, which not only has a cool site design but it has the security of amazon.com as it’s owned by amazon. Right now they will credit orders with $5 for the overnight shipping. That made my Brooks end up costing me $67 and no drive to the nearest running store (30ish miles each way!).

I keep seeing the various running sandals by Teva, Keen, and various others and think they look cool. However, I hear that they aren’t too great for trail running because rocks and debris will get lodged in them. Does anyone have any experiences with trail running in these things?

I know it’s a little late, but I have a couple good links for Earth Day. I know that a few of you are recreational runners, so I would imagine that you also feel bad about throwing out your old shoes. As we all know, it’s necessary to replace our running shoes every six months (or more if we run daily) or so. I typically just throw my old running shoes into my closet, but I saw a better solution in Runner’s World a couple years ago.

If you go to Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe and donate your shoes, they will convert them into athletic surfaces (running tracks, soccer fields, basketball courts) that are sent to underserved communities around the world. And One World Running will send your new or gently used shoes to athletes and children in Africa, Mexico, and South and Central America.

A friend in my running club let me know his trick for drying out shoes. As you might have read, my most recent race had a down pour of rain and then plenty of mud. I decided to clean out my shoes. Regardless of the washing shoes, they would have been wet and in the need of drying them out.

The problem is that you shouldn’t dry shoes in a dryer. Aside from how noisy it would be, they don’t hold up well with that sort of intense heat. If you set them in the sun, it can take awhile for them to actually dry.

My friend told me to put them by the vent on your refrigerator. It works perfectly! If the vent is on the front, place your shoes on the floor. If your vent is on the back, then you can try overhanging them a little on the top of the fridge.

I have 7 pairs of shoes! I decided to walk around my apartment and count the number of running shoes I own. These, mind you, are all ones that are still in proper condition for running. Maybe I should stop buying them for awhile?

I hate injuries, especially when they affect my running. Awhile back, I injured my foot on a mountain biking ride, and it hasn’t ever healed 100%. Now that I’ve started to run in my new trail shoes, I have had some problems around my arch. I know it’s just because I’m breaking in a new pair or shoes, but it makes me mad. Pain in the foot be damned — I ran today anyhow.

Just a boring three mile run today. The wind was blowing like crazy, so I enjoyed powering through that. To make up for it, I went and bought some new trail running shoes at DSW. I ended up getting the Saucony Excursion shoes which I’ll try out soon.