Shoes

Marc Parent's latest installment of the "Newbie Chronicles" is up at Runner's World. This month's article is about picking out legit running shoes.

Teaser:

I glanced through the other offerings. It's not like I hadn't seen running shoes before, it's just that I had never really looked at them. The choices were nearly overwhelming. There was one with pistony-looking things in the heel so that I might get in touch with my inner Dale Earnhart. There was one wrapped with black netting laid over bronze foil for my inner pole dancer. One with sides that looked as if they'd been ripped straight off a space-shuttle dashboard, with rows of buttons and indicator panels for my inner rocket man. There was something jet-propulsion-like about each shoe--as if all the brands had together locked a bunch of NASA guys in a room until they each came up with a design. I counted no fewer than seven different patterns woven into the upper of any single shoe. Most had more than 10. There are more understated carnival rides.

I picked up a pair of Asics Gels. It was like holding a hologram. I could see the shoe in my hand but could barely feel its weight. I pushed my thumb against the sole. I liked the idea of a gel in there. Some genius had put a soft filling in a doughnut and look what brilliant news that turned out to be. Gel in a running shoe had to be at least that good.