Practical shoes

If I spent as much time running as I spend obsessing about running shoes, I'd probably be a lot further along my rehab road by now.  Although I logically know that shoes (no matter how beautiful) do not possess magical powers and that running form is more important than any pair of shoes could ever be, I still have a teeny tiny bit of hope that The Right Shoes will instantly make me a sub-8:00 miler and that my aches and pains will be a thing of the past.

I say this because I did not entirely warm to the lovely neon Kinvara 3s and today returned them to their home at Run4It.  It wasn't really their fault.  I did like their flashiness and they were very comfortable for walking but I came to the conclusion after several sessions on the cross-trainer and a very brief jog on the treadmill that it will take years before my achilles tendons and calves relax enough and are strong enough to tolerate running in 4mm drop shoes.  And, given how impatient I can be, I didn't trust myself to resist the Kinvara temptation and to not push things faster than was good for me.  Plus, the toe box was a bit big and I needed to tighten the laces so much that I created a big puckered crease of shoe.  Very unsightly.

 Triumph 9, currently on my feet

I'm not giving up on the idea of running in shoes with a lower heel-toe drop.  A bit of research directed me to the Saucony Triumph 9 (8mm drop) and the Inov-8 Road-X 238 (9mm drop), which are more reasonable choices for me at this point.  My local Run4It doesn't carry this particular model of Inov-8s but have ordered them for me to try.  I did a quick test run on the treadmill in the Triumphs, though, and didn't notice any difficulties with them, so I handed over the Kinvaras and took possession of the Triumphs.  And here's a photo of them, so that you can admire them too!