Holy Toledo! What an ordeal! Truly, I had absolutely no idea shopping for shoes would be such a long, tiring process. My shoe shopping experiences tend to be me bemoaning the fact that I need shoes for weeks before finally getting up the nerve to go to Payless. Then, I’m in and out in under ten minutes. I hate, hate, hate shopping for shoes.

I was at Fleet Feet for two and a half hours. Two and a half HOURS! Granted, half an hour of that was waiting for my turn, as the store was packed with people buying running shoes. But still, TWO HOURS trying on shoes. Holy crap!

When it was finally my turn, I told the woman, who owns the store, that I had won a gift certificate at the Team In Training kick off yesterday. She was excited for me. Since my shoes were free, I feel even guiltier about the TWO HOURS she spent finding me the perfect pair of shoes.

Since the rest of this entry will be about trying on shoes, I’ll save some of you the boredom and put it below the fold.

She had me take off my shoes and socks and took a measurement of my feet at an angle (remember back in the day when a shoe store person would sit on the little ramp-like bench?, They have those). She made a mark on my foot with a pen for some reason. Then, she had me stand and took another measurement to see if the mark on my foot moved at all. Apparently that measures the arch. My arch did not move from relaxed to standing. After doing this for both feet, she retrieved a pair of shoes from the back. I tried them on, and she had me get onto the treadmill. It should be noted, I don’t think I have ever actually been on a treadmill in my adult life. She had me get to a comfortable running pace and then started videotaping my feet as I ran. After a couple minutes, she had me stop, and we watched my video. I’m amazed at the things she pointed out on the video about my feet. Apparently I keep my feet fairly level and lined up with my legs, and therefore spine, quite well. So I lied when I said I walk on the outsides of my feet. (She thinks it just feels like that to me since my feet are so ridiculously wide.)

After the video run thing, she started trying me out on different shoes. I’d keep one type on the right foot and then try a different shoe on the left. Then, I’d go out side and run up and down the sidewalk a few times to get a feel for the shoes. For two hours. The uglier the shoe, the better the fit. Because my feet are so wide, she had me try on a couple men’s shoes, too. But, the arches are way different on men’s shoes than on women’s shoes. In the end, I ended up with a pair of Asics Gel-Cumulus 9.

After finding the right pair of shoes, she had me try a few different inserts. I ended up getting a pair of Superfeet Berry inserts. I also bought a pair of socks. The most expensive pair of socks I have ever bought, and I what I lack in desire to buy shoes, I more than make up for with a bizarre sock fetish.

I spent roughly $65. But it would have been so much more if I had to buy the shoes, too. So I feel so fortunate. And, I cannot wait to try out my new gear at tomorrow night’s training session.

I am starting to resemble a runner! Don’t forget to donate to my Team In Training LLS fundraiser:

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