These old shoes

If you walked a mile in my shoes, you’d probably regret it.

I’ve had these shoes for five years now. I must have bought them when I worked at Target as my back-up tennis shoes. Target or Wal-Mart. I don’t remember what I paid for them, but it was probably a target clearance catch. If I paid more than $15 for them, I’d be surprised.

When I bought them, they were too small for me. I barely wore them. Squeezing my size 10.5 foot into a size 9 shoe was a little rough. I always wore my white New Balance shoes my dad bought me to work in and in general these gray and blue tennies didn’t really match anything.

So these became my go-to shoes for anything that might involve me getting dirty. I didn’t want to risk messing up my good shoes so I’d always throw these on for fishing, muddy walks around the neighborhood, etc.

Now, looking at these shoes that desperately need to be tossed, I can’t help but think about all the things these shoes have seen, endured, and carried me through.  My feet began to shrink as I started working out and before I knew it, this pair of shoes became my favorite.

I had some new $150 New Balance kicks, fitted to my feet, meant for running. But nothing felt as good as my Target clearance shoes. But I forced myself to lace up my New Balance for my runs. They were expensive and the shoe experts told me they were ideal.

Even so, I still used my Target shoes for everything else, when I couldn’t risk losing or destroying the most expensive thing I owned. That means these Target shoes have been with me on every trip I’ve taken the past few years. They’ve been a lot of places and carried me through my happiest of times.

About halfway through my half-marathon training this year I was feeling really defeated. My runs were hard. My knees were killing me. For some reason I decided that switching my running shoes might rejeuvenate me and my legs. Much like switching shampoos, I immediately felt better.

So I used those cheap shoes to finish my training, and I  used them on race-day against my better judgement , constant requests from Eric to just go buy new shoes, and the advice of my running coach. I didn’t think much about it. It just felt better. I used them this past week when I traveled to Arkansas for a little mini vacation. They went camping, fishing, walked me through town, and sat by several camp fires. I left them outside the cabin, dirty and damp.

When I looked at them, I couldn’t believe they had carried me the 13.1 miles on race day or the hundred plus miles of training. They’re worn out, dingy, and just about ready to fall apart. I’m going to go ahead and buy some new shoes per the request of a dozen people, but it’s going to be hard to say goodbye.

I think I’ll keep these babies around for just one more year, in case I need to go fishing, hiking, biking, farming, or ya know ….in case my new shoes give me knee problems. You never know!