Brooks Running Shoes and Two Other Missteps

   So, I own these shoes. At times they are an embarrassment to me. It's not the shoes, but the fact that I bought them. It is also not that they are necessarily bad shoes, but something different. It is really strike two, but maybe more like three. I like to think of myself as ahead of the curve or at least someone who doesn't follow the crowd. However, these shoes and two other pairs seems to tell a different story. So, if you see me trying to hide them from you, maybe this post will help you understand. Please do know that the above shoes are easier to hide than these:

   These were a purchase in the month of May. I am going to blame the coming Summer holidays. It's also not that these are bad shoes, but something else. The same thing that caused me to buy the Brooks shoes that are at the top of this post. And that thing is a very ugly fact: I may just be the guy who believes the hype. I am the guy that companies love and advertise for. They do it and I rush to buy. I never think things are too good to be true. I always read the adds or reviews with glee and dream of how things will be. I am one of the boys from the Sandlot movie that ohs and awe's over the new box of PF Flyers; knowing that they will make you faster. I am the little boy who runs around the front yard trying to prove to anyone who will watch at just how fast my new shoes make me.

  I say all of this, I guess to let you know. I guess we'll call it a confession. I believe in the hype. I pretend that I don't. I pretend to be my own man. I wear the running shoes that are best for me; not like all those cowardly hordes who read the running magazines and all of their shoe reviews and then they rush to the nearest running store to buy whatever everyone else is wearing or whatever the magazines said to buy. I am not like them. I run my own race. I do my own reviews. I listen to my own voice. I do all these things before I wake up and rush to do what the hype says to do. I have two pairs of shoes to prove that. They sit in my closet and I put miles on them as quickly as possible so that I can go back to what works; not what was hyped! I think I may be slowly learning my lesson, but I know who I am. I am a hype guy. I love the advertisements; especially if the ad is funny. I know this because I own both pairs of shoes. They both have great reviews on the Internet. They both won awards. The Brooks made my feet hurt so bad between miles 24-26 of my marathon that I almost begin walking. The Nike's made my feet hurt so bad after the Peachtree Road Race that I could barely walk for three days without a lot of pain.

  I know some of you will not like this post. It is easy to find people who will think I am complaining or just unhappy that the shoes didn't make me run faster, or those that will think I am trying to blame my shoes, but I am doing none of this. I am just simply letting you know something about me; when it comes to running shoes, I believe the hype. It is just that simple and that sad. To prove that, here is another pair I bought last year:

 These are the Somnio Runnaissance. Trust me, they came with a lot of hype. They were suppose to change the way people ran; especially over long distances. And they were great, but they were so heavy. I did all of my long runs in them while training for a marathon before I got taken down by two ferocious girls during a too intense ultimate frisbee game that resulted in a rolled ankle that ended my bid to run a first marathon until recently. (A Hint Here: Watch out for 6th Grade Girls who are willing to sacrifice bodies too win a carefree frisbee game.)

  I know this post has gone on longer than you wanted. I just felt like I needed the world to know. There are trends in running shoes. Yours truly reads about them for some strange reason. I study them. I used to scoff at them, but I seem to be buying into them now. I need for it to end. When I started running, everyone got on the Adidas train, then came a small resurgences of Nike, but then Asics roared onto the scene and will not seem to go away, then Brooks roared back in the last year or so. If you want to know the latest trend, all you have to do is go to a local 5K, 10k, or some other distance and see what the competitive-looking people in the front are wearing on their feet. They are like me. They buy the hype. They are all wearing Brooks, and like me, are trying to pretend that they are so happy with them, but really biding their time till their kicks hit 350-400 miles, so they can either buy the next, big, hyped shoe or the one their feet wish they would buy.

  As a running friend of mine says everytime he sees me at work: see you out there! (I have only seen him "out there" once.),
      David