Baldy-no-locks and the three pairs

Who got new running shoes today!? This guy did!!! I love getting new running shoes, even if I do spend upwards of an hour trying on every one the sales guy brings out and jogging up and down the sidewalk in front of the store. I realize that I'm not going to know what they'll feel like towards the end of a run but you never know what weird stitch of fold is going to feel funky if ya don't take them out for a test run.  I've got two different pairs of shoes I've been running in since Chicago but neither one is a good fit for a daily trainer. One being a lighter weight, less substance shoe and the other being a trail shoe.

After work I stopped by gazelle sports , our local running store to find a new high mileage trainer. The staff is always very knowledgeable and helpful. Over the past year I've gotten to know a few of them a little more from runs and races so that's always good too because I tend to be on the awkward shy side when I don't really know someone. I told him about how I am currently bouncing between my cascadia's and my kinvara's. They're both great shoes they're just not what I want to do the bulk of my training in. I will be using the cascadia's a lot this winter when its icy and slushy out though.

Kinvara's super light but not ideal for everyday training.

Cascadia's great on trails but heavy for the road



 Neither one a high mileage trainer, hence the need for a new pair. My last HMT's were Adidas Ride 3 and though I didn't have any problems with them they seemed to wear out a pretty quickly. I wore them for the Chicago marathon and haven't worn them since. Partly because I left them in my friends hotel room and didn't get them back for two months but mostly because as his wife noted when she told me they had them "There is ZERO tread left". She couldn't believe I wore them lol. So yeah I was due.

After trying on what seemed like easily a dozen pairs I am very pleased to have ended up with a pair of Brooks Glycerine 9's!

Glycerine 9's Just right, at least for a high mileage road shoe.

Back in 09' and early 10' I had a couple pairs of Glycerine 7's that I loved but then they had to go and retire them and I couldn't find a pair of size 11's to save my life. That's when I ended up with the Adidas because unfortunately when I tried on the Glycerine 8's they felt like garbage. Apparently I wasn't the only one who felt that way because they were barely out a year and they replaced them with these lovelies which feel completely revamped but more like the 7's! Something else I discovered tonight is apparently my heel is too narrow for all asics, at least that's the way all three pairs I tried felt.

I'll take them out for their first run tomorrow and make sure they feel good after a little more distance than the space in front of the store allows. I know I shouldn't take them out for a long run my second time in them but if they feel okay tomorrow then I'll probably knock out Saturday's long run in them and hopefully not visit blister city...

I love going and picking out new shoes at the store. I know you can usually find them cheaper online and I actually bought both the kinvara's and cascadia's online and got lucky that I liked them but I really do like being able to try them on first and I'm not the type to go waste their time in the store and not buy from them. I feel like that's kind of a dick move so I try and balanace it out and buy everyother pair locally. After all they do so much for our running community it's rediculous!

What about you, do you buy your running gear online or at a local running supply store? Do you have a favorite shoe that they destroyed when they "updated" them? Do you have different style running shoes for different runs (trail, speed work/races, high mileage trainer) What do you think about the whole minimalist trend and the lower drop between the heel and toe?