Running Shoes

I still remember the experience of getting my first pair of running shoes.  I was in ninth grade.  I had a plan to give track and field a shot, and so I showed up at the first conditioning practice.  I had never really run before, unless you count running around the yard playing Frisbee or tag, and there I was taking more laps around the second floor of the high school in two hours than I did in nine-weeks of classes.  The floors were not great on the knees, but we were young, and it was the dead of winter, and we really didn't have anywhere else to condition.  My track coach told me I had to get some decent running shoes.

At the time, I had only some basic sneakers - we called them tennies - that were the everyday use kind, the kind that you bought at the shoe store at the mall where the shoe salesmen would size your foot and then bring some boxes from the back room for you to try.  (Nowadays, my shoes all come from a shelf full of boxes that I search for my size and pull down myself, when my size is actually available.)  My tennies were fine, but they weren't meant for running.

So my mom took me to a JCPenney that has since closed and we went to the shoe department.  Neither of us knowing much about shoes, we looked for the shoes that were labeled "running."  I tried on a few pair, and I found my match.  I was so proud of those shoes.

Flash forward an undisclosed number of years.

We headed to the outlet mall, because even as I did in ninth grade, I still prefer Nikes for my long and narrow feet.  And the deals on shoes at the Nike Outlet are surely worth the 45 minute drive.  After trying on a few pair, I again found my match.

Mommy, I need some running shoes, too, so I can train for my race!

Over dinner one evening prior, I had asked Cortlan what he thought about running a race with me.  I have run one 10K and three 5Ks, so far.  My husband and kids have been to all of the 5Ks and have cheered me on at the start and finish lines.  As my first race post-injury, I am planning to run the same race that I ran last May, and this year they are also offering a 1K (0.6 mile) Fun Run for kids.  Parents can run with the kids, who will get their own race number, a t-shirt, and will get to nosh on the race fare after they complete the run, just like the grown ups.  All finishers will get a ribbon.  I noted Cortlan's enthusiasm at the prospect, and then we didn't talk about it again.  Until we were at the Nike Outlet.

Well, yes, you do need some running shoes, Cortlan.  So you can train for your race.

We got Cortlan his first pair of "running shoes" (and, of course, Everly had to get some, too).  He's hardly worn another pair since; he is so proud of them.  And since getting those shoes, he has begun his "training".  When I am done with my run, weather permitting, Cort meets me at the end of the driveway.  We do a little stretching, and then we run around our block at his pace, a little farther each time, with me encouraging him to keep going, to move his arms, to pick up his feet; with him smiling and breathing heavy, happy and working hard.  Everly has gotten in on the action at times (as hard as she tries, she just isn't quite as quick as her big brother, but I think it is only a matter of time) and we have even had a couple of neighborhood kids join with us on a few of the runs.

We have less than a month before our big race.  I can't wait to see how it goes and how proud he is when he crosses the finish line.  I know I will be proud and smiling.

I wonder if he will remember those running shoes.



Maybe someday we will all run a race together.