Dilemma or Devotion??

When your wife says you have too many shoes, you know its a fact. I really do have way too many pairs of running shoes, and the problem is...I feel like I need to order at least two more pair...so it begs the question...dilemma or devotion??



My shoe clock

Now my wife will tell you that I am a "gear head" and I have always been that way, as an Ice Hockey goaltender I was always tinkering with my equipment and rushing to buy the newest thing on the market. I think that translated to running. I started with board shorts a T-shirt, cotton socks, my Timex watch and a pair of New Balance shoes that I  picked up at Marshall's (for those of you that don't know, its an off-price clothing store). When running got more serious I went to a local running store "Feet First" (awesome shop by the way) and got fitted with a pair of Brooks Glycerine 7's. That was the first shoe I ever raced in. I was wearing Mizuno running tops and shorts, I still had my trusty Timex though. Since then I have gone to wearing only Brooks gear, and have become an "Ambassador" for Brooks Running as a "Brooks Fanatic". I wear a Garmin Forerunner 305 (which I love by the way...despite the fact that it looks like I have a small laptop on my wrist) and have a plethora of assorted running gadgets for different things, all of which I am sure I could NOT live without. The shoes however have been a bit of...well lets say...an issue. Like I said, I started with the Glycerine, and then committed the sin of sins and moved away from Brooks to Mizuno. I think it might have been the Mizuno "Wave Rider 12", anyway that lasted all of 6 months and a severe IT band problem, till I was back to Brooks. The Launch was my next shoe..Let me tell you, birds sang, clouds parted, dogs and cats got along, a politician told the truth...you get my drift,  it was magical! I have been with the Launch ever since and Thanks to Brooks Running for never changing anything but the color (the orange was great). In the shoe clock above, the Launch is at 11:00 and 12:00. 11:00 is the common black color and the 12:00 is the updated blue...there is a really cool orange color now that I just have to have (but don't really need).The launch is a true neutral shoe with a small amount of cushioning, a 10mm heel to toe drop and they are fairly light at 9.1 oz for the men's size 9.  Once I began to get faster and participate in more races a friend suggested looking into a "racing flat" ...ok time out for a minute. I need to talk about the minimalist/barefoot craze that has seized running and impacted the shoe market, big time. I am no expert let me say that right up front, but when I hear about someone moving from a motion control shoe, because they were told they "over-pronate" (don't EVEN get me started on the over-pronation/under-pronation marketing scheme) to a minimalist shoe makes me cringe. I went from "neutral cushioned" (Glycerine 7) to "neutral" (Launch) to now running "second days" and races in minimalist shoes. (mostly because I am still in a recovery phase from the hip fracture)There must be a progression, in my opinion, or you are going to damage a muscle system that has been taught over months and possibly years to respond to  running a particular way. Moving to a minimalist shoe without that transition, you may run the risk of a number of issues, stress fractures, calf, anterior-tib and hamstring issues, as well as a number of possible foot problems. ok time in....so "racing flat" that turned me onto the Brooks T-6, now I have a ton of racing pictures in that shoe, mostly 10K's. I love my T-7, and,when it went from the T-6 to the T-7, very little changed. The new red color is cool and the new neon yellow is even better (another must have but don't need). To explain the T-7 is easy, true racing flat, 11mm heel to toe drop and a super light 6.0 oz for the men's size 9. The T-7 is located at 10:00 on the shoe clock. At 1:00 and 2:00 are the Brooks green silence. my new favorites. The orange and red are the older color scheme while the all blue version was a web only model and is no longer available, they have a new Java/Stone model which I also want but don't need. I think I have already talked about these in an earlier post... the cool thing about them, recycled materials and water based adhesives. At 3:00 and 9:00 are the two newest additions to my shoe quiver and also to Brooks running. The "Pure" line. I have the Pure connect at 3:00 and the Pure flow at 9:00. The Pure Connect would be a go to shoe if not for the overly tight heel cup, for me, it rubs at my Achilles and no matter what kind of sock I use it still happens. I will continue to try and mess with them though and maybe after some wear they will soften up. The Pure flow was a try, based on advice I got from my fellow Brooks fanatics, who also had problems with the Pure connect heel cup and moved to the flow and loved them. I am now one of those people. I love the flow, I would use it as an everyday shoe, and will once I have gotten my muscle structure in my right leg healthy.The original green color is great, but I am wanting the blue color that has been released since...I also don't need them (Damn!). The last pair of Brooks shoes on the shoe clock are my Cascadias, I think they are the Cascadia 6, they are a neutral trail shoe and I have used them in Maine on some of the Acadia National Park trails and love them, they are lightweight at 12.2 oz and have a heel toe drop of 11mm. The last two shoes on the shoe clock are not Brooks shoes, and to be honest, I do not wear them often. They are the Saucony Kinvara 2. I bought them, because I loved the Kinvara. The problem is, that Saucony updated the Kinvara 2 and although everything I read said the changes were minimal...I disagree. The toe box is much narrower on the Kinvara 2 and they seem stiffer in the forefoot than the Kinvaras were. This shoe was great to mix into my Brooks rotation to extend the wear of my Brooks shoes, I am hard pressed now to even put them on for a run...I will use them at the gym though...The ladies love em!! or maybe they are just pointing and staring at the old, balding white guy...never thought about that....anyway.
Now loyal reader it falls on you to decide, with only two feet and 7 days a week to run, I feel that a shoe for every day is more than appropriate. This demonstrates my devotion to Brooks running and their dedication to making great shoes for runners. It also speaks of my devotion to the sport I love. There is a valid health reason as well, insuring that my feet are always lovingly caressed in a well conditioned shoe, I ask you, is this a valid health concern or the ravings of a nut? You also must consider, "Is this a serious dilemma", are you reading the blog of a man gone totally Imelda Marcos for running shoes? A man who is so totally obsessed with matching his shoes to his running attire that he must have every color shoe Brooks produces, for every shoe he uses. Is this man's belief that the more awesome the color the more awesome you run, really just the delusion of a guy who knows that people really are saying..."He is really slow, but he looks fast."
Its up to you...
For me..I'm going to go sit with my shoes....