New Shoes Transition-

The new shoe transition....

Painful.

Sometimes literally.

You leave a shoe that fit you like a glove, that's why you had them so long.  The arch was perfect support, the sizing kept you from rubbing off your toenails and the the soles were shaped to provide you a perfect hit and roll of the foot.  But now, you get a new shoe that fit when you tried it on in the store - but out on the trail, after repeated pounds on the pavement, give you blisters, hurt your arch and you trip as the rubber hits at an unexpected point off the pavement.

Painful.

Emotionally.

You had those old worn shoes so long and they have been along for the ride...or run, for a year maybe two or maybe five.  You and your shoes ran on new roads together, broke personal bests, pushed through a rough morning of no energy, charged a hill two more times, crossed a finish line, passed that young twenty year old, and doggonit stepped in that dog poo someone didn't pick up on the trail!

Painful.

Mentally.

Will these old faithful shoes feel abandoned?  Do they feel tossed aside now that they don't sport the new hot neon colors so "in" this season?  Am I justified in throwing them in the garage just because my repeated rubbing of my wide feet made holes from my pinky toes?  Should I throw them away or should I keep them as reminders of the segment of my fitness journey between total beginner runner and training for a full marathon where I learned to run with strength and focus? Should I take the old tie clip off and put them on my new shoes or just buy new ones?   So many questions...

The new shoe transition...

Trepidatious.

Will these new shoes break my flow?  Will they jinks my focus?   Will I get out there tomorrow and be all "I don't know how to run in these new shoes"?

Full of possibilities.

I'm going to have to get a lot of new neon shirts to go with these new neon shoes.

Transforming.

Look how old and nasty my old shoes look next to my new one.  Why did I wait so long to get new shoes?  What was I thinking?   Does the trash go out tomorrow? 

Hey get my shoe tie clips off those first.

And to think that 5 years ago I didn't even own a pair of good running shoes...