A couple of weeks ago, I opened up my “Running Miles – Post
Marathon” excel file to do a quick sum of the mileage I had put on my latest
pair of Brooks PureCadence running shoes.
I felt sure that I was due for another pair, but I wasn’t quite sure of
the extent of the damage I had put on my current ones. According to the Brooks Running
website, you should expect shoes from the PureProject line to last
approximately 250-300 miles. I
quit adding my miles when I hit 750.
The next day I signed online to my Amazon account to
purchase my third pair of the women’s PureCadence running shoes. I didn’t really even consider switching
it up a bit. And why should
I? Why risk injury in
transitioning to new shoes when I loved these shoes? They were lightweight, comfortable, and most
importantly….Pink!
However, when I went to make my selection, I was
disappointed to find that they were out of stock of my 9.5 shoe size (I may be
a little girl but I got some feet!).
I then jumped over to the Brooks website and had the same results. Then, it sunk in. Oh no, don’t tell me, they’ve
discontinued my shoes!!
Well, as shoe companies do, Brooks had come out with an
updated model, the PureCadence 2. Not much had changed except for a redesigned
upper and different colors (gone was my beloved pink). I considered chancing it and just
purchasing the newer model, but I decided that it may be time to make a real
change.
I remember when I first walked in to the local Try Sports
shortly after signing up for my first marathon. I had recently read the best selling Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. (If you haven’t read it. Read it!) I was convinced that running shoes were the source of all
our injuries and that I shouldn’t even be wearing shoes! I half expected to walk out with some
Vibram FiveFingers, but Joe the Salesman curbed my desires with a pink pair of
PureCadences. And then I had my
first running shoe crush. When I
left the store that day, I couldn’t wait to take my new shoes for a spin around
town. And then we made memories of
races, track repeats, training runs, and one nasty spill on a local road being
repaved, and my crush turned in to love.
Since my current love had run its course, I took the
opportunity to reexamine what I wanted in a shoe. I found myself reading reviews, googling random athletic
brands, and of course, revisiting the relatively new debate on barefoot
running. I do think that I am a pretty reasonable person (at least before a few
beers) and when it comes to barefoot running, I gotta say...It just makes
sense. Like sugar, make-up, &
boobs, when it comes to running, natural is better.
Last weekend, ironically as I was about to head out for a
run, the doorbell rang. “They’re
here!” I announced to my equally excited Golden Retriever. I ran up to the door (barefoot, on my
toes) to retrieve my package and then tore in to the box. There, lighter, less cushioned, and
more flexible than my last pair, was my next love, the PureConnect.
This Week’s Mileage: 42
This Week’s Beer Choice: Bear Republic’s Racer 5 IPA
Read more about Christopher McDougall and the barefoot
running debate at http://www.chrismcdougall.com/barefoot.html
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