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Friday, April 8, 2011

A shoe story

Remember when I ranted about how much I disliked the Asics 2150?  And, how I had to go on a quest for my new "perfect" shoe?  I'm not Goldi-Dash, but I have always thought of myself as the Princess and the Pea of running shoes.

 (source)

What does this mean exactly?  I feel every imperfection in shoes (real or imagined).  Often one foot feels fine, but I notice some bump or ridge on the other one.  This makes the process of finding a shoe more frustrating than it should be.

I finally found the New Balance 760 last fall and have been happily running in it since.  When I found out it was being discontinued last December, I panicked and had fears of the new model not working for me.  The only good thing about the move to the new model was that the 760 went on super sale.  In addition to the pair I am currently wearing, I have two brand new pairs sitting in my closet.

So what's the problem?  Well, I find myself preferring to run in the Asics 2150 recently!  Despite my dislike of the shoe, I'm too cheap to simply stop wearing a perfectly good shoe with less than 200 miles on it (especially when there's no injury risk and it's just a "feel" preference).  I typically rotate between two pairs of shoes, so I kept the Asics in the rotation and just used them for shorter weekday runs.  My plan had been to discard them once they reached the end of their running life (somewhere in the 400-500 mile range) and never look back.

I realized last night (while running in the 760s) that I've been choosing the 2150s more and more frequently and wished that I was wearing them for that run.  The 760 was feeling a little softer than I would have preferred.  I even used the 2150s for last week's long run!  Who am I?

I'm not sure if my legs/feet are craving a stiffer shoe because my weekly mileage is lower or if this is some type of "permanent" change.  I have a feeling that once I get back to the LONG runs of marathon training in the late summer and fall, my feet will prefer the slightly softer feel of the 760s.  Though I certainly don't know for sure. The other big question is, do I only like the 2150s because they are significantly broken in (over 300 miles)?  Should I buy a pair of 2160s and pay someone else to run around in them for a few months before I start wearing them? 

I still have a month or two left on the 2150s until they need to be replaced.  So I'll wait until that time to make a decision about whether or not to buy a pair the 2160s.  Regardless of what happens, those 760s will still be used, maybe just not as quickly.  :)

5 comments:

Jen Feeny said...

I love me some 2150s, I always feel bad for people that have such a hard time picking a shoe. I tried a few at the store the first time, picked the one that fit right, and have never looked back. I have been hearing good things about the 2160s, so good luck!!!

Anonymous said...

Be careful buying sale shoes in bulk. I once did that (but they were Adrenaline 5s, when Adrenaline 7s were just coming out) and the second pair went bad before I could use them. I ended up with nasty shin splints after just a few runs. I just don't want anyone making the same mistake as me :)

Anonymous said...

haha.
I start having so much pain in my legs once I have around 200 miles on my shoes, I'm amazed you feel so much better in them now! It will be interesting to see how you feel once you get back into the long runs of marathon training!

I can only recall one shoe that I was wonderfully pleased with and I've just never been thrilled since then. Hopefully now, I will be!

Katie said...

I also buy shoes in bulk and hide them in my closet, I have 2 pairs of Nb 760s and 4 pairs (2 currently wearing) of 2150s. I'm a mess. But I like the 2150s better than the NB. Which probably doesn't help you at all, oops, sorry.

Beth said...

Ditto to what Liz said! Shoes go bad even if you're not wearing them! Some people switch shoes for different types of runs, firmer for shorter runs and softer for longer ones. Maybe that kind of rotation will work for you and allow you to get use out of both shoes!