Awesomesauce

I bought running shoes last night!

WooT!

As I mentioned the other day, all of my running, working, and a large portion of my casual day to day stuff had been in a pair of Nike Reax.  I didn’t buy them with the intention of working out at the time, I bought them because they looked cool, but they worked for me.  I was used to running in them, and I didn’t have in pain in them or anything, but the tread on the soles was almost completely worn away, so I knew their days were numbered.

So I went shoe shopping.  Instead of just going to Kohls and picking up whatever looked nice, I went to Fleet Feet Baltimore in the quest to find the right shoe for me.

 I walked into the store holding my Reax (their website recommends bringing in your old shoes), told the nice lady at the counter that I wanted to be fit for running shoes, then she looked down at what I was holding and said “You’ve been running in THOSE?!”

Crap.

Anywho, she had me sit down and take off my shoes and socks, and could pretty much tell from the getgo that I overpronate (like crazy, apparently).  This was because she saw the huge callouses on the side of my big toes (which she even had her co-worker come over to look at, ugh).  She then had me run back and forth a bit in the main aisle of the store, then I ran on a treadmill for 30 seconds while she videotaped my foot movement.  After reading Sue’s post on the subject the other day, I kind of had a hint of what to expect, but it still blew my mind that there was so much involved.

After all of that, I given 2 pairs of New Balances (don’t know what kind though), and a pair of Brooks Beasts.  The first pair of New Balances and the Brooks Beast fit beautifully (the second NB’s were very tight, even the wider ones), but in the end I with the Brooks, in a size “12 2E”.

The shoes, and a pair of Balega Hidden Comfort Socks, set me back $148.  It was a little more than I was hoping to spend, admittedly, and I probably could have gotten them cheaper online, but I was excited, and I wanted them NOW! so I bought them anyway.

I also found out the Fleet Feet hosts free outdoor runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4pm and 6:30pm.  I might be looking into that as a way to increase my outdoor running experience.  They also have marathon and half-marathon training classes starting soon that peaked my interest.

My “running supply purchasing” high then took me to Target, where I bought a couple of Champion C9 T-shirts and Champion C9 Boxer Briefs (which I couldn’t find a link for, probably because there were on clearance).

AND THEN…

I got home to find two more bits of awesome: Terminator Salvation had come in from Netflix, AND, my Baltimore Marathon Training Shirt had finally come in!

The picture quality sucks, so I apologize, but its basically an Under Armour shirt that says “Baltimore Running Festival” and “IN TRAINING.”

Speaking of the Baltimore Marathon, when I told the lady at that store that I had signed up for it, she said I signed up for one of the tougher marathons (very hilly, apparently) and that I probably should have signed up for the Marine Corps. Marathon.

Crap #2.  Still though, I’m up for the challenge.

So I didn’t do any running in the new shoes last night, but before work this morning I armed myself w/ my shoes, a C9 shirt and my fancy new boxer briefs, and I ran two miles on the treadmill.  The shoes felt very nice, but it was definitely different. I was also feeling the run a bit in my calves, earlier than I usually do anyway, but I’m supposing it due to not being used to the shoes or the support they provide.  It was also nice to not have my shirt feeling all soggy and gross post workout. 

And the fact that my boxer briefs weren’t riding up all over the place and causing chafing? BEAUTIFUL!

Sorry if that last part was TMI

Have a great day, everyone!

reposted from http://www.265andfalling.com.  Go there to catch up and to follow my journey from the beginning!  Thanks!!