A Funny Story About My Shoes

This story involves two pairs of shoes.

Old Work Horse: At some point in my trail running adventures, I bought a pair of Altra Lone Peak and I adored them.

The Replacements: Late in 2018, I lost the Old Work Horse, and had to call in assistance in the form of a newer trail shoe.

How did I lose Old Work Horse? In the old place, I'd often take my shoes off right outside my apartment door, set them off to the side to dry and then pull them in later.  And then one day they were gone.  I noticed my neighbor used to do the same thing and she also stopped that practice of leaving her shoes outside the door.  I asked her about it, and then her spouse was like "I think these nosy neighbors stole your shoes cuz we're not supposed to leave them outside our doors'. 

I had to write a super awkward email to a board member.  "Can you please, in the least accusatory way possible ask Nosy Neighbors if they stole my shoes, but this is just gossip so definitely leave the door open for them not to have stolen my shoes please?" 

Marathon training in 2019 was completed almost exclusively in The Replacements when I was outside.  I loved them so much I wound up wearing them on race day as well. 

After super awkward email, I trusted the board member's discretion but I never heard anything back.  I figured the Old Work Horse was just gone.  Sigh.  Several months later though, I was pulling down a bag for a trip.  Guess what I found inside!  Guess I had a failure of unpacking, most likely after Christmas.

Cue winter 2019/2020.  I now have Old Work Horse and The Replacements and I've used them both.  But I keep returning to Old Workhorse. I really like their upper much better.  The fabric is so much thicker and warmer than the 'quick dry mesh' on The Replacements.  I realized when I looked at what shoes I wore outside in January, I am always picking Old Work Horse now.  Maybe the weather will be different next month and The Replacements will make a comeback.

Favorite Running Shoes: 2019

The number of times I've talked about shoes on this blog is really impressive.  How to tie shoes comes up more often than you'd think.  Early on I realized whatever shoes I like, they will stop making.  Then I started experimenting with new brands of shoes.  Last year, Tuesdays on the Run also asked about the shoe situation. 

Today is the 2019 Shoe Situation. Thanks again to Tuesdays on the Run. 

I have four pairs of shoes in the current (read: summer) rotation.  I don't know why my NB Minimus aren't in the rotation right now.  Perhaps I should find them in my closet?  My big "trail shoes" I wear a lot in the winter in the snow, but they go dark in the summer.

Xero Prio are my ''easy day' shoes and also my main weightlifting shoes. I wear their cousins, the lena to work most days.

Merrell Trail Crusher (another in the long list of shoes they don't make anymore) are another 'easy day' run as well as any run with a varied surface.  I've run some races in different versions of this shoe.

Brooks Launch are my "fast day" shoes for tempo runs, hard treadmill runs, and 'speed' workouts.  To me, they feel like "a lot of shoe" but to most people they are more like flats.

Skora Phase are my racing shoes, rainy day running shoes, and sometimes weight lifting shoes. These are the best shoes I have for running in the rain.  The sole is beyond 'sticky'.