Yet Another Pair of Shoes

I'm collecting more shoes than Imelda Marcos.

"The exact number of shoes varies between accounts; estimates of up to 3000 pairs of shoes have been published. Time reported that the final tally was 1,060." From Wikipedia article.

Well, maybe not that many, but I just had to get a pair of those snazzy red Asics DS Racers. In my quest to find just the right pair of shoes I've managed to run the gamut from no support to full motion control. Looking back at my last several walks I can now see where my last breakdown started and it does seem to put the blame on the shoes.

January 18 ...  6   miles - 11:51 pace - Loco Banditos
January 21 ... 10   miles - 11:27 pace - Loco Banditos
January 23 ...  6   miles - 11:50 pace - Loco Banditos
January 25 ...  6   miles - 11:39 pace - Asics DS Trainers <-- foot started hurting.
January 27 ... 20.5 miles - 12:42 pace - Asics DS Trainers <-- blistered heel/knee started hurting.
January 30 ...  6   miles - 11:20 pace - Asics DS Trainers
February 3 ...  1   mile  - 10:28 pace - Asics DS Trainers <-- time out!

Even though the Loco Banditos were a little too large, I had no problems, they just wore out. The DS Trainers fit great in the store, I followed all the shoe fitting tips like trying them on at the end of the day because feet swell up as the day wears on, but somehow they just weren't the right shoes for me. Maybe they were just a little too stiff, the heel a bit high or the wrong size, but they didn't work out. The DS Racers are more like the NB 111's, NB 550's and Loco Banditos. Basically, they are very flexible racing flats but all the support I seem to need come from the custom orthodics. This time I made sure to get them nice and roomy--size 11's. That's a big change from the size 9.5's I've been used to buying just a few months ago.

So, coming back from some time off to get the knees back into shape and breaking in new shoes--it was time to hold back and do a very easy day.

Mile 1 - 12:33
Mile 2 - 12:45
Mile 3 - 12:18
Mile 4 - 12:25
Mile 5 - 12:12
Mile 6 - 11:56
Average Pace - 12:21 minutes per mile
Total Workout - 1:14:11

I was taking it really easy, kept my sweat shirt on even though it was rather warm and watched my heart rate stay in the low 160's bpm as the sweat started pouring.

The new shoes felt great too--a few more miles and I'll decide if these are the ones I'll use on the marathon.