Changing shoe models is always a difficult thing. Every shoe model is built differently so whenever I have to change my foot has to readjust. I go through a long period of breaking the shoe in just to get it comfortable. This often involves a lot of tying and retying in order to figure out where I need the shoe to be tight, where it needs to be loose, where I need it to flex, etc.
Last time I wrote about my shoes I was on the hunt for Asics GT-2130, Size 10 2E. Those shoes worked for me so well that I seriously wanted that exact same model. Why mess with a good thing, right? If you recall, Running Room didn’t have my exact specifications, and the mall vendors were being particularly dumb. Like I said I would, I ended up heading to Running Free to see if they had anything in stock. Well, the people there took a look at my worn out shoes and decided that my shoes were too big. See, there was a hole in the mesh were my big toe was rubbing against it. Apparently my toenail really sawed right through it. That’s not surprising–many of my socks have holes up there. They wanted me to go with a 9.5 2E but they didn’t have them for the 2130′s, so, they got a pair of 2120′s which are one model back.
I was pretty hesitant about getting a shoe in a smaller size. I mean, my instincts for this sort of thing tell me that given a choice between more and less room in the shoe I should go with the roomier choice. And it’s not like the size 10′s I had were horribly wrong for me–again, why change what works? Anyway, I tried the 2120′s on and my mind was telling me that they were great. They told me to try them out on a treadmill and to bring them back if they weren’t good. Well, I wore them around the house for a good while and I thought they weren’t bad. I was kind of feeling a mild discomfort under the arch of my foot, but I attributed that to not having worn in the shoe.
I brought the shoes out on a run before Angus Glen and I was feeling a bit of shin discomfort. Despite that, I felt like I was running faster. When I ran with them during the race, I was feeling muscle fatigue in the shins. I ran right though it though and I ended up with a good time. Thing is, during the reception after I had trouble staying on my feet because the shoes felt tight. I decided that I just need to loosen the laces to allow my ankle to flex. The laces were too tight and working against my shin muscles when they contracted. That was really causing a lot of the fatigue. When I loosened the laces a little I was feeling some relief. Still, something wasn’t entirely right because often my legs would feel like concrete blocks.
This morning’s run was only 7K. As I went along, I could feel myself slowing down from lower leg fatigue. My shins and calves weren’t feeling all right. I couldn’t figure out the cause. As much as I suspected the shoe, I considered that maybe it was the long uphill climb on the route or some other factor. No matter what the case, I’m sort of regretting not sticking to what I knew and buying the 2130′s in the size I wanted. I’m willing to work with this shoe a little longer to see if I can get it to work how I want it to work, but it really sucks to know that I have to go through this process at all after having a great pair.
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