Running Shoes...with Waves

Remember when you had one pair of tennies and they were for everything? Everything.

Those days ended for me in high school when I started to run in earnest. In Nike Pegasus, their original running shoe, in white leather with a red swoosh.

They were cushiony and durable and made me feel like less of a poser and more like a real runner.

After that the style options exploded. I can't remember when Nike came out with their patented Air technology, but I had one of the original pairs..paid a ton of money for them, but it was money well spent.

I ran all over the place in those things. All over. The foothills, the valley, sidewalks, parks, around the Academy, wherever...many miles in the originals.

Generations of shoes later, I find myself not so happy with the Nike anymore. I've spent thousands of dollars on them in my life, but a few years back began to notice what I deemed to be a general decline in quality, though they've never stopped increasing their prices with each new model.

So I switched to Adidas. And didn't love them, so switched to Saucony. Loved them for a year but then couldn't find the style I liked the next time I needed new ones so switched to Asics, which then discontinued the style I so loved for a higher cut one that bruised my ankle bone when I ran.

Really annoying.

Last year the running shoe guru named Tom, who has worked at a couple of local places I've shopped through the years, recommended Mizunos.

He said, 'Their technology is really different. It's not air, it's not gel, it's not a plastic-y bouncy material, it's a wave plate built into the shoe to disburse shock. You might feel the impact a little more, but most people don't feel sore the next day, if that makes sense.'

It made sense to me. And they fit really well. And this last year has been a very good running year for me. No real pain, except from over exertion from time to time, which certainly isn't the shoe's fault.

Double wavers...

So, with bated breath I went shopping for this year's pair. And lo and behold, they had them. I tried on this year's version of the style I love so much. But then Jeff (who now works where Tom used to and Tom was at a store I didn't want to schlep across town to find at that point) suggested, just for grins, trying on the even better model, with another wave plate in the front of the shoe (there is a big one in the back of the others.)

So I tried them on. And they fit even better than the originals. And they have that extra wave thingy to help protect my aging bones. You see how I justified this, right?

Did they cost more? Of course. 40% more. But since they wear a little better, they may last me a little longer. Ahem.

Tonight, weather permitting and the good Lord willing I'll be able to take these bad boys for a spin after work. And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to run a little further, jump a little higher, be able to scale trail hazards and standing puddles with nary an effort.

'Cuz that's how the waves they roll.