New Kicks!

Ok, so ignoring the fact that Megan and I have been the worst bloggers ever recently (hey, life gets busy!)... 

I got new running shoes!!

But I'm very excited to tell you guys about the process.  I went to a local running store,Pacers Running Store in DC, after talking to a woman about her awesome kicks at the grocery store-totally random, I know, but I love chatting with people.  She gets all of her shoes there, so I thought I'd give it a try.  I had heard other good things about Pacers, actually one of my friends is training for the Marine Corps Marathon with them, but wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the money on new shoes.  Let me tell you though, after the whole experience of buying there I won't ever buy athletic shoes from a regular store again.  


So I get to the store after work and walking in I was a bit overwhelmed to say the least.  A few moments after standing looking baffled an associate noticed I needed a ton of help-remember I have "special" feet.  So we started chatting, mentioned that I'm training for a half marathon (Disney Princess 2012!!) and maybe one or two other races before hand.  

I give him the rundown about my feet, what *think* I need, and that I have inserts that I'd like to try on with the shoes.  So we start off with some a pair of Adidas that I'm a big fan of, but I felt like I was swimming in them.  He shows me over to a treadmill that I get on and it has a flat screen in front of it with a camera mounted at the end of the belt.  It records your steps and slows down each stride.  I needed a shoe that was more stable, I over rotate to the inside of my ankle.  

He brings out about 5 more pairs, apparently my heel is pretty narrow- so he's looking for shoes that are wide at the toes, and narrow at the heels.  This guy knows his shoes, very impressive.  We talked about Vibrams, the new barefoot trend in shoes and races.  He knows his stuff.  So I get back on the treadmill with a few more shoes, some of them feel pretty good, others are just alright, some feel plain right huge on me.  I ended up wearing a different shoe on each feet because I have no idea which one I like more.  I hop back on the treadmill and see which I like better.  Between the Brooks and the Saucony, the Saucony won.  I really like the way the were snug and he even tied my laces in some crazy special way to make it tighter around my heel! 

I highly recommend visiting a local running store, if you have one.  These stores know pretty much all there is to know about shoes, sure you may pay a bit more than at a department or sporting goods store, but you're going to get excellent service and leave with the "right" pair of shoes!


~Cassi