Shoes & Music

I was wondering this morning how many pair of running shoes is too many (all with low mileage). See, I currently have 3 pair and love them all. I have a pair for trail running that carried me through Catalina safely avoiding the doom of road rash that many succumbed to, and through 17 mile of pouring rain protecting me from the slippery road that ate up so many full and half marathoners. I have a pair that are so light it's like wearing spikes...without the spikes, and I can run faster up to a 10k. Then I have a pair I customized Nike Shox that have a butterfly and my name...no, I am not kidding. I find myself yearning for yet another pair for distances of 15+ miles, and yet another custom pair, perhaps with bumble bees. Yes, I know that putting butterflies and bees on my shoes might not send the hardcore message of "I'm a runner damn it, move out of the way", but they make me smile and that much more fun to wear. Try it sometime.

I whole heartedly recommend that if you are really, truly getting into the sport of running you go to a running store, not a Big 5 or Sportmart, and be professionally fitted for your shoes. The sign of someone that is a good fitter: they will watch you run, measure your foot length and width, take into account how much you run and what is your running goal. Then they will bring out several pairs of shoes. This step is highly important. If they only bring you one pair of shoes, then run away, even in flip flops. Trying on many pairs of running shoes to find just the right pair is part of the process. Yes, the first pair might feel great, but the 4th pair could be life changing and feel like you were born with them on your feet. Just think, if you had stopped with the pair that were good enough you would have never found the pair that you were destined to have.

Now you've found your shoe and you lace them up and run. Write the date of your first run on the inside of the tounge. You need to replace your shoes every 300-500 miles. The support breaks down and if you keep running in them, no matter how excellent your form is you are at risk for injury. If you are a light to moderate runner this will be about 6 months. If you are a heavy runner it will be about 3 to 5 months. Also, yes, you've found the perfect shoe, but your feet change. They do, I swear. Get fitted once a year. It's free! Heck, get fitted every single time if it makes you feel better. The important part is to take care of your feet. If you fail your feet, then they will fail you and the knees will follow their lead, as will the back. The body tends to gang up on you if you don't take care of it.

As for music, I literally have a marathon mix on my ipod that I am constantly moving music around. Here are my latest additions:

Road to Nowhere - Talking Heads, the 2005 remix
Supermassive Black Hole - Muse (no, I swear I am not a hipster)
Send Me On My Way - Rusted Root
I Caught Myself - Paramore
Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith (you MUST have some Aerosmith)
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor ("Rocky"...need I say more)