If The Shoe Fits...

So I took my New Balance shoes back.  They weren't cutting it for me.  

I realized I don't want a minimalist shoe. 

I want a minimalist-like shoe.  Meaning I want to be able to connect with the 

ground underneath my feet, I want a zero-drop, but I also want a bit of padding.

The first pair of running shoes I bought were Brooks PureGrit.  

I. Loved. Them.

They were pretty darn ugly, but function over form, right? 

Why I didn't just buy them again when it was time for a new pair I have no idea.

The shoes I most recently had were Brooks PureFlow2; 

they seemed to be a bit too thick in the sole for me--I just didn't feel connected with 

the trail when I was running. 

After trying to push through it, trying a different style all together,

I decided to do what I should have done from the beginning: 

go back to the shoes I loved.

I went for my first run in them yesterday (approximately 30 minutes after I purchased them.  I wasn't too worried about hurting myself with a new shoe because their design/style is close enough to the shoes I was currently running in that it wouldn't be a huge transition for my body).

Four miles with Jessica along the river.  Ran the whole time (great job, Jessica!). 

 Pain. Free.

Whether it was our pace, the shoes or pure coincidence I don't know. But I felt no pain.

There are different camps that either say the shoe doesn't cause the pain or the shoe is the ultimate factor because it effects everything else.  I tend to be in the latter camp. 

When did my pain start? When I switched up to a different type of shoe.  When did my pain get a little better? When I switched to a shoe that was part-way to being my original shoe. When did I go on a run with no pain? When I switched back to that original shoe.

It could all be in my head (I don't think it is, no matter what the guy 

at the last store said. Idiot.),

it could all be coincidence. Whatever it is, if it makes running more enjoyable? I'll take it.

Happy Feet.