"New Shoes" (or "Ay, There's the Rub")

I purchased new running shoes this week. I realized at the Martian Marathon this past weekend that I ran the Chicago Marathon in my current running shoes. Sad to say, my last Chicago Marathon was in 2005. I was definitely well overdue for some new shoes.

I went and tried on some shoes and picked the ones pictured to the right. Pretty normal except for the funky shaped laces which are supposed to minimize lace slippage. I took them home and went for a bit of a long run. Unfortunately, my right shoe was rubbing on my heel the entire time, so by the time I made it home I had a nice blister.

New running shoes aren't supposed to need to be broken in, so I was a little worried. The next day I decided I would just wear them around to hopefully break them in a bit. While I was putting them on, I noticed my right shoe just felt tight, as if it was the wrong size. I decided to check the insole to see if I could possibly buy a thinner one that would allow the shoe to fit better. I pulled out the insole only to find...another insole! For whatever reason, the right shoe had two insoles, which explained why it felt small & why it rubbed on my heel. I went running the next day and the shoe didn't rub at all. Hooray!

It's just dumb luck I decided to check the insole; I could've not noticed that for weeks or longer and had to deal with a shoe that didn't fit correctly.

P.S. Do you like the "Rocky & Bullwinkle" style title?