A Single Mile Sob Story

I woke up this morning feeling tired and sluggish. I knew I had 4 miles on my "training plan," so I decided instead of laying in bed letting the minutes tick by, I should get off my butt and just do it. I had purchased a new pair of shoes over the weekend, and I was so excited to test them out. The shoes felt like they had the perfect amount of cushion, and it certainly helped that they had bright, cheery colours on them. Unfortunately the cheery colours did nothing for my mood this morning, and the cushion did nothing for my run this morning either. I didn't like them.

Here's the thing. It is a lot different when you actually run in a new pair of shoes than when you are walking around the store bouncing around and trying to get a feel for them. I wanted to love these shoes so badly. I really did! However, as I covered one mile - a single flipping mile compared to the four I had planned - I was distracted. My heels are slipping. Okay, I'll get off and tighten the laces. Wow, my foot is still moving around. Holy shit, there's a lot of room in the toe box. Why is this so wide? I don't feel a ton of arch support now that I'm running. Ugh, it feels like I'm wearing scuba flippers. These are huge! I miss my old shoes. Why didn't I just stick with them?

Oh, Mizunos. I miss you so!

I stared at my Mizuno Wave Elixir 7's longingly - dramatic, but it's so true - during most of my run. They fit my feet so perfectly, and they were the shoes that brought me through two half marathons, a 10K, and countless training miles (or rather, 382 but I'm not counting..) in between after February of this year. I began to feel discouraged, so I walked for five minutes. Then my distracting thoughts came back. Yep, these definitely feel like flippers. I could probably use these if I ever went diving. Why had I not noticed this before? I cut myself off and promptly took the shoes off. By now I was pretty frustrated and was thinking, I still have three more miles left if I want to get this scheduled run done. HOWEVER, I wasn't about to throw on my old shoes and risk injury since there's barely any cushion in them. I also wasn't about to keep these bad boy Asics on my feet considering my hate/hate relationship with them now.

Maybe I'm being quick to judge. Regardless, I will be returning them to the store after work today. I think it's great to try out new shoes, but I think it's even better to stick with the ones you love & the ones you know work for you. I know I should probably give them longer than a one mile chance, but sometimes you just know.

I'm sorry, Asics Gel-Neo33's. I tried to love you, but it's just not working out. It's not you, it's me.