Get Your Kicks on Route 66... Or in My Case 64 aka Main St. in Geneva

So this has been a journey of wills in many ways... Will I be able to do this, Will I be able to get my ass moving fast enough to even call it running, etc. I have had clear stumbles along the way... snow, rain, frigid cold, LAZINESS, but what a shock to find that now that I am actually starting to get into a groove I am overcome by intense pain in my foot. Now I have expected shin pain and the all too common shin splint, but this pain was in my foot and it wasn't the bottom of my foot it was a radiating pain coming up my foot from the tendon that connects/controls the big toe. Holy shit did that hurt and I could not for the life of me figure out what I was doing that could be causing this kind of pain. I mean seriously am I that big of a loser that I can find new ways to hurt yourself while walk/running. I mean hell I am only running for a few minutes at a time.

So while talking it over with my husband I come to the conclusion that I need new shoes. So far I have been running in an old pair of Adidas running shoes that have been generally used as an all purpose shoe. But all of a sudden I am at a total loss of where to buy a running shoe. I mean where to buy a cute flat, sassy kitten heal, or hot peep toe and I can hook it up, but a running shoe, totally out of my element. Furthermore I am dealing with this pain in my foot that needs to go, and I have the knees of a 55 year old, and I am in need of double knee replacements. Clearly finding the right shoe is going to be key, but where the hell am I supposed to go to find it. Well luck would be on my side when later in the week I took my oldest son to karate. His old soccer coach, who happens to be a marathoner, is at karate with his son. So I took the opportunity to find out how one goes about buying a running shoe. He recommended a great place close by and gave me some great advice on how to improve my training to build my stamina. What a productive fat girl running day at karate, who would have thunk!

So later that day my boys and I head out to Geneva Running Outfitters (http://www.genevarunningoutfitters.com/) to find some new kicks. Well let me tell you, this is an experience like none other, and believe me I love me some shoes so I have tried on a ton. First, I am greeted by a wonderful sales associate to leads me through the process. She has me walk barefoot for her, do a couple of balancing moves (good thing I like yoga), and we talk about my grandma knees and the fact that I am in no way shape or form a runner, to which she laughs and says I am because I am starting on the journey. So now not only am I feeling more runner'ish because I am buying new shoes the way "real" runners do, but she has included me in the crowd. Go me! So next we start trying on shoes. And in a fairly typical process of elimination of narrow down to two shoes. A Nike and an ASICS. Then she has me get on a treadmill with each shoe on, so she can tape me running in them. After she shows me the tape (it is only about 10 seconds) and shows me my alignment in each shoe. We talk about the ideal alignment and I find that in both shoes I am within a reasonable range, thus they should provide good support and stability. I also find that I am able to tell for sure which shoe I like better and I decide on the Nike. After paying for my shoes I am feeling more confident about running. I am again given more advice on training, but also I am feeling like part of the club, which believe me is something this fat girl never thought she would feel. I am also excited to try out my new kicks... Wait. Me. Excited to RUN... Oh shit what have I done!