Since my old walking shoes had a big hole in them, I needed to get new shoes before doing any more big walks. I had a full work week last week, but I had time after my half shift on Friday to do some serious shoe shopping.
Shoes and I have a funny relationship. I love shoes, but they don’t love me back all the time. Because of my hip issues, I have to be careful about what I put on my feet. A few years after having my hip surgery, I discovered that shoes with wobble boards in them (the ones that claim to burn extra calories and work out your butt) are the ones that are most comfortable for me. I don’t believe that they burn extra calories, but whatever allows me to walk for hours without pain works for me.
I have a lot of shoes from FitFlop, but they don’t make workout shoes. So when I discovered that New Balance had shoes similar, I bought a bunch of pairs. I had one pair at my house and another at my parents (so I didn’t have to fly with sneakers taking up a lot of room in my carry-on). But the ones with the hole in them were my last pair, and those shoes were discontinued a while back.
Since I loved my New Balance shoes before, I figured I’d try another pair of New Balance shoes (and no, they aren’t paying me to say this). There is a New Balance store near my work in Santa Monica, so I went on Friday.
This was no ordinary shoe shopping experience. Instead of telling the sales people what shoes I wanted to try on, the salesman (whose name is escaping me) brought me over to the shoe fitting area.
I stood on that platform and there was a computer that took measurements of my feet and where I put pressure when I’m standing. During the measurements, I also told the salesman about my hip issues and explained what type of shoes I’ve like before.
After the foot analysis, the salesman brought over the shoe that he thought would be best for me. He also brought over an insert to put in the shoe to simulate what the wobble board did for me. The shoes weren’t as cute as my old ones, but they are pretty nice.
I’ll admit, the shoes weren’t as inexpensive as I’d like. But now that I know what shoes (and inserts) work for me, I can be on the lookout for the shoes being on sale (and then I could stock up). I’ve learned the hard way that being cheap with my shoes doesn’t work, so I’m glad that I went for the ones that didn’t hurt me.
I’ve had the chance to do one decent walk with these shoes. And they aren’t the same as my old ones, but they don’t hurt either. I think I just need to wear them in a little bit and then they’ll be perfect.
Sometimes, you have to spend a little more to make things work for you, and workout shoes are one of those things.
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