Running Shoes

I was a runner. I didn't run far and I didn't run fast but I ran for a very long time.

I got a lot of grief from people about my shoes.

I ran in Keds.

When the fancy new running shoes started coming out I tried them but they were way too heavy. By the time the lighter weight ones arrived I was too much in love with my Keds.

And, the more expensive athletic shoes became mandatory, the more I resisted. I used to remind people that, from the beginning of history - up to a couple of hundred years ago - we ran in our bare feet.

For about six months in the 90s I was a consultant for a man who owned nine athletic shoe stores. I taught him some things about how to treat his managers but I learned a lot too. New shoes come out every six months. High school kids have to have the latest. It's one thing to be killed for your shoes in a war torn country but it's astounding that it's fairly common in some areas of this country for a pair of Air Jordans.

Yes, I do understand the allure of the label. After all, I love my Chuck's.

But now today, of all things, I read in the paper that a growing number of runners are shedding their shoes and running barefoot!

Some experts are saying that it's a myth that cushioning in shoes is always better. That it's all about marketing! (The result of which has been shoes with gel pockets, air pumps and computer chips.) But for some runners they produce an unnatural gait where the heel, not the forefoot, absorbs the impact.

It's nice to be vindicated after all of these years but I would never run barefoot - except on the beach.

I'll stick to my lightweight, canvas tennies.


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