Thursday, April 12, 2012

Is it Really so Dangerous Out There?

Not too long ago I ordered new running shoes for myself. Since the new season's shoes were coming out and they had so many shoes on sale on Amazon it took me quite a while to research and decide not only which shoes would be a good fit for me (pun intended), but then to determine if there was even a size and colour I wanted... In the end I ordered 2 pairs for almost exactly 100€ (=131.19 CAD at today's exchange rate) and felt like I got a pretty good deal. Although I did have to set the colour factor aside - not to say I don't think my shoes are pretty but they're a bit more white than I had hoped for and I know that won't last long!

The first pair to arrive was the cheaper of the 2. Also, lighter weight, less supportive and lower to the ground, but I won't get into that right now. All I will say is that I like them and although I started off using them for my shorter runs, I've already put 108.3km on them since I got them at the end of February.

As for the second pair, they came a few days later and since they were a smaller fit than expected they got sent back. So it was almost 2 weeks later that I had them in my hands and could start looking out for an appropriate run to take them on. Ideally, it couldn't be too long the first time and I wanted it to be fairly dry outside, especially since they're so white - I didn't want them to be wet and muddy after the first few kilometers!

After a pretty tough running workout yesterday, followed by a bit of climbing (combined with today's cooperative weather, of course), it seemed to be as good a day as any to take these shoes out for a spin.

Check out my shiny, spotlessly white new shoes!
Now I would have loved to be showing you this picture of my shoes while saying, "check it out, I finally took my new runners out on the road and it was awesome!"

Instead I'm left trying to convince myself that the shoes themselves are not at fault for the enduring burning sensation on my knees (evidence below). Could it be the fact that I was running downhill on cobblestones? Or that my legs were still tired from yesterday? Maybe I just have that little coordination sometimes...

Really, this was a relaxed jog - after the workout yesterday and sore muscles this morning, I merely wanted to stretch things out a bit. Plus, the chance to finally wear my new shoes didn't make it less appealing. 

But somehow I tripped. It felt like my toe was stuck underneath me and all of a sudden I was lying on the sidewalk with a couple people hovering over me. Luckily, I had yoga pants on instead of shorts. They probably not only saved my knees from worse damage, but covered it up so it was easier for the 2 lovely passersby who stopped (or literally ran over, armload of groceries in tow) to check on me as I got my bearings and tried to figure out not only how to answer the question "what happened?" but to also try and figure out an explanation for myself.

Ouch
Of course, it's just a case of a couple of scraped up knees. But really "no pain, no gain" is a tad useless here - I can't yet see an advantage to trying to thicken the skin on my knee caps. I'm mostly just left a bit confused and feeling like a little kid who just got way too excited and ended up wiping out because she forgot how to use her feet. It's been a long, long time since I've had knees like this, that's for sure!

Does anyone want to share a story of their own and help to soothe my ego a bit? Even if you don't, do you think I can blame the shoes and the street at least a little bit??



2 comments:

  1. remember the time we were biking and the bus stop sign uhh "jumped" in front of your bike?
    For that matter remember when the drunk man ran you down on his bike?

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    Replies
    1. Is that supposed to make me feel better? And that man was scary!

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