I hate shopping.  More than anything.  I hate spending money. I hate pushy salespeople. I hate trying things on. I hate not finding things that I need or want.

There is one exception to the rule, though, and that’s when it comes to buying sneakers.  I love sneakers.  I have 11 pairs sitting in my close right now.  It’s not that I necessarily buy a lot of sneakers, it’s just that whenever I replace my running shoes, I keep my old ones, because I guess that I hate getting rid of things also. 

The time has come for me to get a new pair of sneakers.  How do I know this?  Well, for one, the imprint of my foot in my shoes has gotten so deep, that it doesn’t feel like there is any actual shoe separating my foot from the ground.  With this, I have started to feel more strain on my back and knees.  This is really stupid of me and means that I have waited way too long to get a new pair. 

So how long should one wait to get a new pair of shoes?  I think most serious runners replace them every few hundred miles or so.  I don’t consider myself a “serious” runner, so I should probably start keeping a close eye on my shoes at about the 3 month mark for wear and tear (I probably wait around 6 months now).  Of course, it all depends on just how much you run a week, if you are really big or really small, and if you are running outside or on a treadmill. 

Now that I am committed to replacing my sneaks, I should be excited that I get to buy a new pair, right?  Wrong.  I think I was deep in some jungle or forest when this happened, but it seems there has been a major shift in sneakers.  First, there was a move towards wrestling/boxing type sneakers, and now towards clown shoes.  Not exactly clown shoes, but Nike and Adidas, and even New Balance, have sort of changed their strategy by practically offering “limited edition” type sneakers.  That is, they have so many different styles that you hardly see the same pair more than once.  These sneakers tend to come in bright fluorescent colors, and hey, I bet it’s helping their bottom line.

My problem is that I walked into a shoe store to find a new pair, and saw the “performance” section (because this particular shoe store didn’t divide up their shoes by sport), I kind of scratched my head.  Cross training shoes are different from running shoes are different from tennis shoes.  If you have ever tried to play tennis while wearing running sneakers, you know what I mean.  So, I am still on the hunt, and plan to check out this cool triathlon focused store called Jackrabbit.  I bet they will have some proper running shoes.