After my recent frustrations and my venting of them here I decided that there was only one solution, other than not exercising ever again, and that was to take Ange’s advice and invest in a new pair of shoes. Off to the shoe store I went.
It was not a terrible experience. The shoe guy did not laugh at my ancient and decrepit running shoes. He sympathised with my tale of the unforgiving achilles heel and he proceeded to sell me a new pair of running shoes and three new, fat socks (shock absorbing in their own right). I’m hoping my left achilles will thank me for it.
Here is the solution…
They are my first ever pair of New Balance shoes. After what seems like a lifetime of being fitted for Nike Pegasus, I have finally been offered something different. And they feel weird. Weird in a good way though. So I am hopeful.
And there, for your viewing pleasure, are my flash new Thorlos. I have been using Thorlos since before Adam was a lad, but these (oddly enough) are my first proper and serious running versions. Buy two, get one free. You can’t go wrong with that sort of padded goodness.
It also helps (from Miss Oh Waily’s point of view) that the soles are a girly shade of pink. Me? I could care less about the pink. If they were a nice blue, fine, I might get a bit excited. Frankly that pretty colour is going to be pretty manky in short order, so hopefully she also likes a dirty shade of pink. (What am I saying? Of course she will !)
I plan to put them into action on Monday. Not in a run, but in a general weights workout. If my leg survives that foray back into exercise then, in the inimitable words of Terry Pratchett, “the world is my mollusc.”
ohwailywaily.com 
Well done Lynn. You won’t regret new shoes!! I hope they help the archilles. I haven’t tried new balance, have only had Asics. Now though I am testing the new concept and buying some zero drop shoes – Altra is the brand. They are basically flat rather than having a raised heel, which hopefully will make me be less heel striking. We will see….They will arrive in around 3 weeks as unfortunately we can’t get them here in NZ which is a bummer.
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Clare – I’d love to hear how your new shoes go. At least they’ll arrive in time for a summer of running. š
Do you have any races planned?
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Not yet, just thinking about it. Haven’t done enough running of late.
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Oooh, they look fast š
I hope they do the trick; new running shoes always feel so unforgiving until about the third run, and then they feel like they were made for your feet, and your feet alone.
I’ve been an Asics girl forever. I had my first pair fitted for my pronation (is that a word? I think it’s a word. Spellcheck seems to agree), and they fixed that, but every time I get new shoes (which is not often now *ahem 3 years*), I still go for the same ones.
Fingers crossed for pain-free runs from now on x
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Ange – hahaha. They’ll be the only thing about me that’s fast then. š
I’m mostly neutral – but in need of padding apparently. Personally I think I’m pretty well padded already. š
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Good luck with your “high fashion” runs!
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Thanks t. I’m sure I’ll dazzle all the gym bunnies with my haute couture shoes in the dark of the cardio cinema as I whoosh* along on the treadmill. š
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* this is a relative term, of course. š
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