I tried to deny it. I tried to recenter and concentrate my attention on my stride. I tried to change my socks. I had my treads checked. I had my laces re-laced, but nothing was alleviating the hurt in my feet after a run.
I’ve been running for twenty years in the same brand of shoes (with only one three-month detour) before making my way back to my Mizunos. I haven’t been running in just the same brand, but the same model since I started running in college. This was the shoe that cured my shin splints. This was the shoe I ran my first and second half marathons in. This was the shoe I ran across the Cooper River Bridge numerous times. This was my shoe.
I didn’t even consider that the hurt that was shooting through the soles of my feet was from the shoe I was wearing. It didn’t even cross my mind that something that I had dedicated twenty years to was actually now not serving me. It didn’t even occur to me that after twenty years my feet and legs had probably changed and it was maybe time to at least try something else instead of pushing through the pain.
Sometimes something that has served us well ceases to be what we need. We change. Our feet change. Our paths change. And we need new shoes.
When I put on my new shoes, it didn’t feel right. The structure and support were different. The laces were different. Everything was different.
I didn’t like the different and then as I settled into my run, I realized my feet didn’t hurt.
Sometimes we suffer through pain rather than trying something new and end up missing out on the very things that bring us joy.