Monday I finally made it to the Sneaker Store in New Hartford, NY, to purchase new running shoes.
I like to get two pairs, so I can alternate them, especially if I run on consecutive days. Scott suggested I look at the clearance table first.
“Of course, it’s pretty picked over,” he warned. I know: you snooze, you lose. How long have I been meaning to do this?
I liked the first pair I tried on, but Scott said they were more of a cross trainer. Still, if I also got running shoes, I could mostly wear the cross trainers for walking. I set them aside and kept looking. I had been looking for size 7 1/2, but found a pair of Aasics in an 8.
“I can rock this,” I said. In fact, it felt better than the cross trainers had. Then Scott found me a pair of New Balance. I liked those, too.
“Could it be this easy?” I asked. Apparently it could. I was glad of that, because Steven had graciously accompanied me, and I did not want him to get bored while I tried on fifty pairs of shoes.
I mentioned seeing the new Saucony sneakers on the Sneaker Store’s Facebook page. Scott told me how they were moving to the next generation of running shoe. It seems the sneaker manufacturers are going for more of a barefoot design. I know actual barefoot running is a big thing these days, but I quite frankly can’t imagine my feet, legs and back liking such a thing. I also have to think: before people wore shoes, there was no pavement. They ran on dirt, grass, sand. Sometimes stones, I suppose. Then too, they went barefoot all the time, and they didn’t go for pedicures where they got their callouses shaved off with pumice stones. Well, I’m sure the sneaker manufacturers have smart designers and shoe engineers working for them. They must allow for that sort of thing.
Be that as it may, I was very happy with my old school sneakers, purchased at clearance prices. In fact, when I got them home, I realized the New Balances were the exact pair I had purchased last year. I was very happy with them and expect to continue to be so.
While I was shoe shopping, Steven had noticed a Bosco t-shirt he totally wanted. Bosco, of course, is the parrot that lives at the Sneaker Store. The first time I was ever there, I couldn’t figure out who kept saying hello.
Alas, the t-shirt was not for sale. The owner had had it made, but had not decided whether to sell them or have his staff wear them or what. Steven voted for selling them. I suggested the owner sponsor a race and offer the t-shirts to the runners (thus ensuring I would get one and
Steven would have to borrow mine).
“Oh, he does sponsor a run,” Scott said and handed me a slip of paper with “Bolder Inspiration of Trenton Falls” printed on it. I read, “5 Mile Run, 1 Mile Kids Run…August 4th, 2012.” I “liked” Bolder Inspiration of Trenton Falls on Facebook a long time ago but for one reason or another have never run it. It’s on my calendar now.
So is the Boilermaker. As Steven and I drove through Utica en route to New Hartford, I looked over at the Running Hall of Fame for the Boilermaker count. 33 days. As I type this, it is one month from today. Eek! Good thing I got new shoes!
The Sneaker Store is located at 4490 Commercial Dr., New Hartford, phone 315-736-9237; www.the-sneaker-store.com. For more information on Bolder Inspiration of Trenton Falls go to www.bolderinspiration.blogspot.com.
Mohawk Valley Girl 