A Girl and Her Shoes

A girl has a very strong love affair with her shoes.  Yes, a diamond is forever, and every kiss begins with 'K' ... but when our jeans don't fit, our shoes will.  If our outfit is plain, our shoes add that POP!  Our shoes make us taller; make our legs look longer; make us feel sexy.  If we go shopping and just can't seem to find the right fit of clothing, we leave the mall with a brand new pair of shoes!  And there's almost nothing better than the smell of brand new, Jessica Simpson, Oscar, Fall Red, 3 1/2in Smooth Patent Leather pumps ...





A sample of my favs - Jessica Simpson pumps in the middle

 

... or is it just me?


I love my shoes.  When I was a kid, it didn't take long for me to understand that I had to try extra hard to find clothes that fit.  I was taller than the average female and I was a little thicker than most.  For many years I wore men's jeans because they had more variations of inseams and waist sizes.  Being taller also meant that my feet were bigger - which meant the stores didn't always have my size.  However, my ego was never damaged by the size of my feet.  For some reason, if a store didn't have shoe that fit me, I would be disappointed ... then move on!  But if the clothes didn't fit, it felt personal; like the store was calling me fat!  (Do you believe that?!)   These days, it's not so much a struggle to find jeans that go past my ankles; the market caters better to women of all sizes in my opinion - and I was never fat to begin with.  I see that now and I don't struggle with the shopping thing like I used to (and I'm in better shape and maybe even a little smaller.  I've been a size 14-16 most of my life and now most of my pants are a 12-14 - yay!), but I digress ... When I couldn't find clothes, I found shoes.  And so began my love affair. 



I love my feet, what can I say?!



I feel the need to say that I don't always wear heels.  In fact, I hardly ever have the opportunity to put them on.  And yes, I'm just about 6ft tall and I STILL feel the need to wear thick-ass, high heeled shoes.  And I wear them shamelessly :)


So you can imagine my disdain in the spring of 2008 when I went to Run On to be fitted for running shoes.  They. Were. Ugly.  So ugly.  And not only that, I was told not to select my shoe based on the look, but on the feel.  I'm sorry ... did I hear you correctly??  I'm going to pay $80 or more on a pair of shoes that are ugly?  Wow.  I think I went back to the store three times before I was able to stomach this.  But I did it.  My first pair of running shoes were New Balance, and they weren't all that bad.  Blue and orange, just like high school!  But as the mileage increased, so did the size of the blood blister on my right foot.  OUCH!!  The New Balance was clearly not the shoe for me and long distances - which was unfortunate because I hadn't put nearly enough miles on them to get my money's worth.  So again, I went to the store to be fitted for a better pair.  Asics 2130.  These.  Were.  Ugly.  But they worked great!  Seemingly the perfect shoe for me and long distances.  When those ran thin, I went back to the store to buy the same shoe, new version.  Didn't care that they were EVEN UGLIER than the previous. I was beginning to appreciate the importance of function over fashion when it came to my running shoes :)


From L to R - New Balance, Asics 2130, Asics 2140

The second pair of Asics weren't as good as the first, but I didn't stop running in them.  I think I wore them for about 4 months before I stopped running completely.  (I took a 5-6 month break from running ... and any physical activity at all, ha!) When I started back up at the end of July, I was back in my old shoes.  Soon after, I knew it was time to pony-up the money and buy new kicks.  I started with Brooks Adrenaline, bought from CK Sports ... didn't work.  Too much posting.  Then I went to the Mizuno Wave Inspire 6, bought from Luke's Locker ... didn't work.  Not enough cushion for the forefoot and it overcorrected me.   

Mizuno Wave Inspire 6 - pretty hot :)



I went back to Luke's (because it's closest to my apartment) and decided to go back to the beginning and try the Asics 2150.  The 2140's weren't the best, but the 2130's were awesome.  Turns out it didn't matter because THEY DIDN'T HAVE THEM IN MY SIZE.  I wear a women's 12 running shoe.  Yes, they can special order them, but I didn't have time to waste.  Poor sales-man-Scott.  He was trying so hard to find me a shoe.  Then he brought something out ... a men's shoe.  Together we decided on the Asics DS Trainer.  They apparently had a hard time selling them because the guys thought they looked too feminine.  Perfect.  I'll take 'em. 



DS Trainer - Does it look feminine to you?

 This shoe has actually served me well.  But after a month or so of running on them, I'm told you aren't really supposed to train in them (which didn't make sense because they are, after all, called Trainers).  The DS Trainer is a minimalist type shoe .. before the minimalist shoe was trendy.  So I guess it's time to buy yet another shoe.  Then I'll have one pair for daily and long runs, and a pair for track days and race days. 


For Christmas my wonderful, awesome, supportive Dad bought me a gift certificate to The Athlete's Foot in San Antonio - a shoe store specializing in, well, athlete's feet ;).  I explained my journey through shoes and my desire to go back to the Asics 2100 series.  Can you guess what he said?  THEY DIDN'T HAVE THEM IN MY SIZE.  Again, he could order them for me, but I wanted to walk out of the store with shoes in hand.  He brought out a Saucony Guide in a men's size 10.5. 



THESE are HOT.  I sooo wanted these to work : (

 Sadly, the Saucony didn't work either.  Turns out I should have just let the salesman order the Asics 2150, because that's what happened in the end. 





Asics 2150 - the perfect shoe?

I was doing pretty well for about 2 and a half weeks in these.  FINALLY! Or so I thought.  I woke up last Saturday and my calf on my right leg was pretty tender.  It progressed from there, and now it's a week later and I want to cut my feet off at my ankles.  I'll go into the details of all that in a later entry.  This is, after all, a blog about shoes. 


The one thing I have always loved is now something I don't even want to think about.  I can't find a shoe.  And I can't keep up my weekly mileage in the Trainers.  What's a girl to do?   There is no happy ending here.  There is no conclusion; no answer.  Just a girl who LOVES shoes and can't find the right pair.  My journey continues ...


(... did I hear a Newton?)