Have you ever been in love?

 Back in the 2000-2002 era, aka my best running years, I was absolutely, 100% in love with my Nike Air Prestos. They fit my feet like a glove, they were light weight, and I could REALLY move in them. During that time frame, I cycled through about 3-4, all fitting exactly like its predecessor- you know, back before the manufacture randomly upgrades every 3-4 months, changing the fit and feel. (yes i'm talking to you Saucony)





I owned this exact pair--- so many memories

Once I quit my short stint of track in college, I gave up consistent running till 2010. When I ran my first debauchery of a half marathon in April 2010, I wore some type of Nikes (can't remember which) and my feet / legs / back/ knees/ everything else you can imagine HATED me. I went to fleet feet and they put me in some type of clunky sauconys as well as the berry super feet removable inserts. I HATED them both, but since I had no idea what shoes else to buy, I went with it and then just stopped using the inserts so I could feel lighter

 Fast Forward to February '11 when I developed ITBS- every runner's nightmare- went back to Fleetfeet and they told me if I had started in a stability shoe, I would have avoided ITBS altogether (gee thanks for just NOW telling me) They also recommended I start using my inserts again.  Thus begun my love / mostly hate relationship with the Saucony Progrid Guides- below is my first pair.

The relationship is love/hate because although I LOVE the fact that once I was healed, I haven't had much ITBS issues since,  I hate that they keep upgrading them and it seriously takes me a solid month for my feet to adjust. Randomly enough I don't have issues when I race, but during training runs I feel like I"m moving in S-L-O-W motion and sometimes my feet feel like they are dragging.

The other day, Rock n Roll finally updated their race photos from Saturday and I was shocked at how oblivious I am to what my feet are doing

So I thought, is this picture an actual depiction of how I always run?? Was kind of shocked when I turned over my running shoes to check

YUP!

I'm mildy freaking out about my ultra relay coming up in a few weeks, so decided I should go now to Fleet Feet to test out and break in a new pair.

Convo went a little like this:

Scott: Hi I'm Scott how can I help you today?

Me: Hi Scott, I'm Lisa- I've been in Saucony Progrid guides for a little over a year, they get the job done, and I like them, but I don't love them. I want you to make me fall in love.

Scott: <laughing> I'll see what I can do

Me: No seriously, I used to be inlove with my running shoes in high school and I haven't found a pair yet that fit me... I want that feeling again <saying joking> I want to like my shoes so much that I want to make love to them (yes I really did say that)

After going through a few pair I think I found something worth trying-  Mizuno trimphs



I love this color, but unfortunately the cut of this shoe is different and a 10.5 was a little snug (i wear a size 10 normal shoe) so we had to go up to 11- YIKES- naturally they only had one color so not as pretty.  One thing I'm not sold on is "baby got baaaaaaaaaack" (heel that is) it seems rather clunky, but its not a deal breaker yet

Scott took my inserts out to look at them and said they were pretty spent (there was some buckling and the plastic was changing color where it was bending)
I told him that I just bought replacements in January and have MAYBE ran 350 miles on them. After further inspection he pointed out that I've been using the wrong inserts this whole freaking time because it doesn't cup my heel correctly, thus causing the buckling. I thought about asking him to take a comparison photo to show ya'll, but shyness kicked in. He said the reason they probably put me in berry was because the orange is typically for guys--- I told him not only does he put me in an 11, but now I'm using a guy insert- he really knows how to make a lady feel femine haha.

HUGE difference- again more clunky?!?!

I went on a run last night--- I was still incredibly sore from bootcamp, so the run itself sucked and I can't judge fairly. This weekend I'll be using my old inserts and saucony's for racing just in case i don't like my new kicks. 

Scott said I could come back if neither the shoe or insert works for me, SO I tought I'd pose the question to ya'll

Do you have a running shoe that happens to be a stability shoe (so if you say newton's, any of the brooks pure flow, or  a minimalist shoe, that doesn't help me in my quest for love)