If You ask any experienced runner, what is the most important gear worth spending money on, the answer will definitely be Your SHOES. The rightful follow up question is usually: ok, but how much should I really spend, which shoes would fit me the most?
Before we get into my story, let me note quickly, that if You are inexperienced with running shoes, go and visit a running store personally, where a professional can have a real look at Your feet and tell what kind of shoes are really needed.
Getting to my point, 6 years ago I stashed away the running shoes I got for Christmas for 4 years, as I had an other in good condition. A few years passed, and I've just recently posted the following picture on my facebook timeline with the caption "Eenie Meenie Miny Moe..". (Well, the Hungarian version of it)
Aaaaand, I've just bought an other one the day before yesterday, and I'm planning to get my hands on one more tomorrow.
So You may ask, what the heck happened recently? Have I won the lottery? Did I went crazy? Got deep into the "running shoe black market"? (If it exists at all).
Well, definitely not, maybe, and don't think so. I just simply started running more (and more).
So, to put it simply, this was not really designed for intense running. No cushioning whatsoever. But it served well for long years. The only other picture I have of it is actually made at the finish line of my first half marathon:
Yeah..., I ran in really old shoes, heavy cotton clothing, earphones on, and with a bandaged knee. Things couldn't be more perfect and professional... Anyway, I used these shoes until the summer of 2013, when I started running on a regular basis. When they decided to retire I blow the dust away from my the aforementioned Christmas gift.
I can remember the first time I put on those Adidas shoes (black ones in the far back of the group photo above). I felt like the ground was pushing me away at each step. This was probably the beginning of my transformation into using technical shirts, and specific running gears. I really loved those shoes, and had a lot of really nice memories together, like running my first marathon in Marrakesh, my first half IronMan, etc.
It was the autumn of 2014, I was preparing for the marathon in Istanbul with shin splints, and turned my shoes upside down to see this:
I quickly summarized my RunKeeper activities and realized, that these poor guys have covered more than 2000 kilometers with me over that 14-15 months. The numbers and the pain in my leg were obvious indications that a change is needed. But this sounded strange. I used my previous shoes for a decade, and these ones only for a bit over a year! Come on! Anyhow, I decided that I'll go to a professional store and buy a shoe that really fits my feet. At this point I had no idea whether I have overpronation or supination. Based on the picture above, I'd have guessed supination, but it turned out that I have a little pronation. Anyhow, just a few days before the Istanbul marathon I got myself a shiny and new Asics GT 1000.
My first professional running shoes! Hooray! But... what will happen to my poor Adidas? Well, I decided to use it for trail runs, hikes and shorter asphalt runs occasionally. Now they have around 2500 km in them, and I was still using them up until a month ago, when they ended up like this after a trail run in the snowy forest:
I still didn't throw them away. They served really well, so they deserve a decent farewell run, that will also include drinking plenty of Pálinka. After that I can peacefully retire them, and send them to Nike.
Now back to my Asics. we have been through a lot too, they were my default companion for my runs over the last year or so. However, when I got back from Morocco last November, I had to realize, that they are also starting to feel the downsides of my continuous torture. Quick calculation again, and we were around 1900 km or so. The bottom was flat like this:
I was planning a long weekend with a sum of 80 km of running on asphalt, so I knew I had to buy a new pair of shoes again. I tried other brands too, but the Asics and Saucony shoes seemed to be the most comfortable. In order to try out something new, I decided to start my new relationship with a Saucony Guide 8.
Since then I have something like 450 km in them, and they are really nice, though I think I liked Asics more. Speaking of which, what happened to them You may ask? Well, they are still in use, and got the position from the old Adidas shoes: short asphalt runs and trail runs. One of them even got a nice patch for $1.5:
So what about that Mizuno Wave Ultima 6 in the front above? Why buy that one if I already have the Guide 8? I accidentally won a voucher for a running shoe on a marathon back in May, and I could finally get my hands on this beauty. The timing is pretty good, as I started working in an other city in part of the week. Now these shoes are dedicated to that second workplace, so I don't have to carry my running shoes around each week.
Fine, but what about the recent purchase? And the one that is in plan for tomorrow? Well, You may have realized, that buying running shoes is not a cheap thing if You run a lot. Partially because of this, and partially just out of curiosity, me and a friend of mine decided to test very cheap shoes, and see what happens. In order to do that I've bought a pair of Chinese brand shoes for $13 two days ago, and I already had my first run with them. But that will be saved for an other post.
So, how about You? How many shoes do You use in parallel? How many did You have so far? Is it difficult to throw them away? Let me know in the comments!
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