Quest for Victory

When it comes to sports fashion, it’s a realm that I find myself at a loss for, especially concerning running shoes. For years companies like Nike, Adidas, Puma and more have specialized in athletic shoes for optimal performances. But as a non-athlete, all those ads and shoe jargon of “shocks” and “air pumps” went over my head. So when it comes to find a decent pair of shoes for my new found exercising (jogging) needs, I have no idea what to look for.

It’s obvious that the shoes must be comfortable and still comfortable after a work out and leave me heaving only from my exercise and not in joint pain.

I ventured over to Foot Locker on Ste-Catherine to pick out some shoes. These days it’s easy to see which shoes are only for fashion and others for actual functionality. But what’s the difference between “performance,” “lifestyle,” “classics,” and “running”? I glanced over the young sales lady who was perhaps no older than 20 and didn’t think she would know the answer, nor looked like she had the patience to explain to me what the differences were.

In a sea of sneakers, I picked out one pair called Asics from the “Performance” set, and asked for a size 5.

“Size 5?” she asked incredulously. “We only have 6. If you want smaller sizes you’ll have to go in the kid’s section.”

Just what any 25 yr old woman wants to hear.

Mafalda: Six year old world crusader.

Having small feet has been the bane of my existence and have more often than not cut my love affair with shoe stores throughout the years. I looked in the kid’s section in case I could find a bargain, but alas the shoe styles were hideous and they were not made for exercise, or at least didn’t look like it.

So I turned to the internet for help. In minutes I’ve found a very informative site at Runner’s World on running shoes and the science behind what makes a comfortable shoe. Lucky me, those Asics are a good brand for exercising! They’re also quite affordable at $80 a pair. Reading up on this site will probably point me to a better direction in looking for good shoes.

Unfortunately though with Foot Locker not carrying a size 5, I’ll have to look elsewhere for shoes like at Sports Experts. Hopefully they’ll have shoes my size (and perhaps better service), if not, I’d have to resort to Payless…eek.