Give a girl the correct footwear and she can conquer the world.

The above is a quote from Bette Midler.  IT IS SO TRUE. 

I won't get into the specifics of all of the different types of footwear out there.  But to Bette's point, I always wear heels when I have important meetings or presentations.  The added stature gives me some extra confidence.

I used to chuckle to myself at the people who would walk around downtown in their business suits and sneakers.  But as I've gotten older, I've gotten less tolerant of uncomfortable shoes and I am now one of those goofs that will prioritize comfort over fashion.

Sometimes when I'm in the office, I'll wear my sneakers or flats while sitting at my desk, and will only put on my heels when I need to get up to see someone or go to the bathroom or kitchen or printer.  Then I might change out of the heels as soon as I get back to my desk.

Up until several months ago, I've always worn Nike running shoes.  I've actually heard some mixed reviews on Nikes.  In general, though, I think that no one brand works for all, and that everyone just needs to figure out what works for them individually.  So I was excited to experiment a little bit with different brands.

I got professionally fitted for running shoes for the first time in my life last November.  I specifically indicated that I would like to try something other than Nikes, so they gave me a pair of New Balance shoes and a pair of Asics to try.  I like a lot of cushioning and support (I'm not into the barefoot running craze) and I went with the Asics - the Gel Cumulus 13.

Speaking of barefoot running, I shudder at the thought of wearing things like these.

Seriously!?!?!?

The Asics have been really great so far and I was recommended Superfeet Berry insoles to go along with them.  I was told that I need neutral shoes, but that the specific neutral shoes were less important than the insoles. 

At the time of my fitting, I already had a pair of Nike Air Citius 2+ shoes with only 10 miles on them, and they are neutral shoes.  I went out and bought a second pair of insoles to add to them, and have been rotating them with my Asics.  The jury is out on the insoles because I sometimes experience a bit of foot numbness while wearing them.  However, the insoles certainly do offer great support.

I do have two other pairs of old Nikes that I have now downgraded to junk status, i.e. I will now only wear them to run in gross slushy snow or other circumstances where I don't care about what happens to my running shoes.  Speaking of which, I went out for a slush-ridden run this past weekend in one pair of the junk shoes and I paid for it with blisters the size of Saturn on both feet.

"Give a girl the wrong footwear and she can run herself into the ground."  - Me

Beyond this, all has been well and good in my running shoe world.  However, as most women will understand, you can never have too many shoes.  I was particularly excited to try Mizunos, as I've heard glowing accounts of them.  Descriptions like "They felt like an extension of my foot" seemed very common.   So I've really been wanting to try the Mizuno Wave Rider 15:

I monitored them on all of the online running stores for months, waiting for them to go on sale, even though I knew that the last thing I needed was another pair of running shoes.

Lo and behold, I finally found them on sale this past weekend for 33% off, no sales tax, no shipping cost.  (I LOVE AMAZON!)  Only, I wanted to be able to try them on before ordering. 

The Mizunos come in a limited-edition red color. 

Unfortunately, the red only comes in average widths - but I wear a wide.  I was disappointed because I would have loved to get the red!  However, this actually did work a bit to my advantage when I went to try on the shoes in person at the running store this past weekend.  I didn't have to face any sales pressure to buy the shoes at full price when the reds don't exist in my size.  But, I was still able to try them on in other colors for the right fit.

All in all, it turned out to be very worthwhile to try the shoes on.  My Asics are a half-size bigger than my normal shoe size, and based on this I had been recommended to get Mizunos a full size bigger than my normal shoe size.  However, it turns out that the Mizunos in the half-size up did fit the best.  I ordered them from Amazon in the white color above.

The Mizunos arrived yesterday in the mail!  As soon as I got the phone call that they were in the mailroom, I darted downstairs to pick them up.  I had already gone running yesterday morning, but was so excited to try the Mizunos that I considered going for a second run in the same day.  Ultimately I didn't (but running twice a day is fodder for a later discussion).  I have my improv class tonight after work so unfortunately I won't have time to go tonight, but I'm very excited to take them out for a spin tomorrow!

My kind of science laboratory.

It was a big self-indulgence for me to get these Mizunos when my Asics and my newest Nikes have a combined total of only 112 miles on them.  Therefore, I am now swearing off any more new running shoes at least until after the marathon this fall.  SWEARING!

Although, one must realize that none of my current shoes can stand up to precipitation.  NONE of them!  And running friends Molly and Julie have now gotten me thinking about Gore-Tex running shoes.  You see, Gore-Tex running shoes, on the other hand, are waterproof and therefore CAN stand up to precipitation...

Just sayin'...