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by Michael Selman It has been said that runners have their best thoughts of the day while out running. Runner and writer Michael Selman shares his "Thoughts on Running" with us here at ontherunevents.com.
Flash forward to April, 1982. I had been talking to a friend who had started running a couple of months earlier. When I asked him why, he said “because I’m getting married next month and there is going to be a lot of dancing at the reception. I want to make sure I have the stamina to keep up with everyone.” I was getting married in June of that year. It made sense to me, and I wanted another T shirt. The two factors combined were enough to get me motivated to go down to the local sporting goods store to get outfitted with my first running suit and my first pair of running shoes. My first pair of shoes were made by Brand X. To be honest, I don’t even know if they were specifically made for running, but my feet didn’t like them too much. The shoes were two sizes too small, my feet and legs always hurt, and soon, my toes were sticking out through the seams in the front of the shoes. I switched brands. My second pair of shoes were made by Brand A. My feet loved them, my running improved, and I felt as if I had found the shoe I would run in for the rest of my life. That model was discontinued the next week. I have remained loyal to Brand A ever since, but product loyalty sure is a difficult t hing these days in the running shoe industry. It seems like every time you find a pair of shoes you like, the company stops making them. A few years ago, one company got caught with their shoelaces untied, so to speak. They were in the process of discontinuing there most popular shoe in favor of another shoe with the same name, but a higher number. In the meantime, a widely read consumer magazine rated their discontinued shoe the best running shoe available on the market. The only problem was that it was no longer available. Everybody had to have it. The company had to undiscontinue the shoe. Over the years, I have tried to beat this game, with varying degrees of success. At first, I bought shoes two pairs at a time. I was sort of on to the idea of rotating shoes before it became en vogue to do so. At that time, I worked during the day and was taking night classes at a community co llege. There was a wonderful park right next to the college which had running loops marked in distances of 1 mile, 3 miles, 5K, 4 miles and 5 miles. I would pack my gym bag in the morning, grabbing the two shoes closest to me, cotton shorts and socks, a T shirt, a towel, and I’d be out the door . Although I was actively rotating four shoes, I didn’t always do it in the appropriate manner. On more than one occasion, I unpacked my bag to suit up for my run, only to find that I had packed two left shoes. I started marking my shoes L and R, for simplicity. Later, I discovered mail order shoes. I also discovered that you could tell when your favorite shoe was about to bite the dust, because it would be advertised at a deep discount and in limited sizes. I started buying shoes four pairs at a time. I’m glad for mail order. I’d be too embarrassed to walk into a store and buy four pairs of the same shoe. People would look at me funny. At least on the phone, you can remain just a number. The shoes in my closet were getting harder and harder to tell apart. Is it just me, or does everybody have a hard time knowing when to throw out a pair of running shoes? I would run with one new shoe and one old shoe. As long as one said “L” and one said “R”, I knew I could go the distance. But, somehow, I sensed that something more had to be done. I added another entry on my shoes. Next to the “L” or “R”, I added the date I put the shoes into circulation. This way, I knew I was running with a matched set. I knew I needed help. Shoes were taking over my closet. When I would receive a new Runner’s World magazine, I’d turn immediately to the classified section before reading anything else. But I had to buy my shoes in bulk. They might be discontinued. Finally, I went overboard. I saw my shoe, the one I was loyal to, advertised for $29.77 by one mail order company. I had never seen them for less than $40 anywhere before. There was also another company which claimed they would beat any advertised price by $1 per pair, and throw in free shipping. As I called to inquire, my heart was racing and my palms became sweaty. As it turns out, the advertised price was a misprint, but the other company agreed to honor the price anyway. I bought a pair for each day of the year. I even got an extra pair for leap year. You might think I’m crazy, but I ask you. How many of you have enough T shirts????? Just like T shirts, you can never have too many pairs of shoes. They might be discontinued tomorrow.
Thanks Michael for sharing your "Thoughts on Running" with us here at ontherunevents.com Look here for more "Thoughts on Running" by Michael Selman
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In early April, 1982, I made a decision to start running. It wasn’t for my health. It wasn’t to lose weight. It wasn’t to be competitive. It wasn’t even because I thought I’d enjoy running. I started running because I loved T shirts.
To be honest, I actually raced before I started running, and thus, the seed was planted. My father worked for Consolidated Edison, the company which supplied electrical power in New York. It was also the butt end of many Johnny Carson jokes when he was still producing his show there. Every year, Con Ed sponsored a 10K race in Riverdale, a very affluent and VERY hilly district in the Bronx. In 1978, dad convinced me to run the race. I didn’t train at all. On race day, I got a T shirt with the name of the race printed on it, took a 70 minute stroll through Riverdale, and couldn’t wa
lk for a week afterwards. I still have the T shirt in the Michael Selman hall of fame.