Treadmills=trouble

I am not trying to turn this into a jog-blog, but running every other day is really consuming my life. It's just new and I need to get used to the new lifestyle (I went to bed at 2am and was up at 6:30 to run 3 miles).

Last week I became aware of my lack of equipment--shoes especially. I had heard of this store on the up and coming East Downtown Austin that will basically custom fit shoes for you. Here is what happened when I went in:

The saleslady had me bend my knees and curl my toes to look at leg alignment. She then brought out 3 pair of shoes she thought would fit me. As I tried on each pair, I went to a treadmill where my feet were videotaped to make sure the shoes would support my stride. I then watched my duck-like stride in slo-mo.

The first pair fit just fine, but my feet didn't sing when I donned them. The second pair was super cute and fit fine and I was about to leave with them, but my nagging conscience told me to try the third pair. As the saleslady opened the box, I saw the shoes in their ugly splendor. I tried them on and they felt wonderful! But did I mention they were ugly? I let the treadmill make the decision.

Now, I don't go to gyms. I can tell you I can count on one hand the number of times I have been on a treadmill. Unfortunately, I fell off said treadmill, dodging injury by catching myself on the hand rails and kicking my feet out of danger's way. Even more unfortunate was the fact there was a line for the shoe thingy and my sister was there to chant, "Replay! Replay!"
The only thing that saved me was the saleslady had no sense of humor and therefore no desire to watch the replay of my near death.

So what else was there to do? Buy the UGLY shoes and try to save as much dignity as possible.