Shoes News You Lose

Just a short note regarding the importance of proper equipment. When I purchased my latest pair of Sauconys I noted that the design of the tongue had changed. They do this all the time, for some reason - every year some little thing has been altered so that the shoe I wear now bears little resemblance to the shoe I wore 5 years ago. Why shoe manufacturers do this is beyond me. Runners buy shoes for fit and performance, not looks, so build a good shoe and leave it be. But no.

So although I did not like the new design much I bought the shoes anyway because overall the Sauconys have been good to my feet lo these past 5-6 years of running. The short tongue was irksome but not a factor in comfort or anything so I didn't worry about it. However, once I got into the 30-35k range last sunday I started noticing some numbness in my feet. It got worse. Then it got ugly and I was forced to walk. I couldn't figure out why this was happening at the time, but later I realized it was the shoes! The short tongue was cutting off my circulation just enough to give me grief on the long runs, which I had not done up to that point.

This is not to excuse my sluggish performance or lay blame where it does not belong - I undertrained for the event and I paid a price for that. But I do think that the shoes were a factor, if only near the end of the day.