You Get What You Pay For

I was so proud and excited about my new $20 running shoes. At Scheel's, the cheapest running shoes they sold were $100. I was laughing in Scheel's face as I put on my new shoes, stepped out the door, and headed out for a run.

I started off on my usual one-mile loop. Man, these shoes feel great! I was really patting myself on the back for this great find. Then I hit mile two. And the discomfort started to set in. I told myself to push through, it was just temporary. My feet weren't used to them yet. But as I rounded the corner of the second mile, I decided I had better just quit before I really hurt my feet.

I had developed big blisters on both of my arches. After giving the shoes one more chance, and experiencing the same result during my first mile, I headed back to the mall and got myself some real, high-performance running shoes.

So far, so good with the new kicks, and I still only spent $50. I'm less than six weeks from the race now, and hit a wall at eight miles, so I really need to pick up the pace, literally!