Day 56 - New Shoes!!!

I have realised one thing about myself. If I undertake any task, I leave no stone unturned or spare no expenses in the preparation. Wait, let me explain in detail what I mean by preparation. If I have to take an exam, I'll get the most expensive books and all the accessories required to take the exam and then start with the actual studying. Similarly, if I am learning a new language, I'll make sure I have all the books, videos etc. and then I'll worry about the actual learning.

So in the marathon preparation scenario, I am focusing on getting all the right gear :). (Thankfully, I am trying to focus on the runs too). I had read about the sports speciality stores and so went to the Fleet Fleet store in the area to see what shoes they would recommend. They give one on one attention and then recommend the right shoes. Since I had a gift card (from NB) for Sports Authority, I went to that store to see if I could find some good shoes. At sports authority, you are on your own. I caught hold of one sports person asking him if there were any running shoes for supination or under-pronation (when one has high arches and the feet tend to roll on the outside). He said that 80% of the population has over - pronation (feet roll on the inside) and only 15% has supination ( I come in that 15 %) while 5% doesn't have pronation or supination. Since only 15% has supination, manufacturers have stopped making shoes for supination but do create shoes for pronation.

So I started looking into running shoes which were not for over pronation (he gave me a vague description to avoid shoes which had a gray band on the outside - midfoot to heel - of the shoes)and remembered in time that for high archs, extra cushioning helps. So after trying various shoes, came down with 2 pairs, one from Avia and the other from New Balance. From my past experience with New Balance and Nike, I have always preferred Nike over New Balance. But trying the various shoes, today I found New Balance to be more comfortable.

After reaching home, I realised that I had bought size 8.5 for both the shoes. Now, presently my running shoes are a size 8 and I think of my shoe size as a size 8 though I do go for 8.5 sometimes. So, I can't remember whether I tried the size 8 for these shoes or they were not available or they did not fit well, but presently I have two 8.5 shoes. I think they fit me ok but I am only concerned that since my shoe size is 8, will these be loose after some time? I am just confused. The store guy said that I can try them and return them within a week if they dont fit well. So maybe I'll do a short run and hopefully they'll be just fine. I looked up the web and did try to measure my foot size per the instructions. But according to that my shoe size is 7.5 which is absolutlely wrong :(. So now, I know that in the next few days I will be preoccupied with my new shoes and keep wondering whether they are a right fit or not. Uhh! time well spent :(