New Shoes.

Yesterday I bought a new pair of high end running shoes. I figure, if fitness is going to be something important to me, and particularly the jump ropes, from now on, I may as well invest in some quality equipment. I also feel like I have the knowledge and experience now to get what I need, and not just what is fancy and high tech. It's the same way you wait until you've been playing for a few months or years before you shell out for a top end guitar. By then you know in what ways your hand me down beater is letting you down. then you can go to the music store and play around and try different guitars and find the one that responds to you.

This was basically my mentality with the shoes. I've been getting some pain in my legs, so it was clear to me that I needed better footgear if I'm planning to continue this well past PCP. Also, I happen to live right behind an excellent bike/running shop. So I went over there this morning and they have a whole fitting process where they watch you walk and match you with the right type of shoe. Then you try on three or four different pairs and they video tape you running on a treadmill to see how the shoe effects your stride. Obviously, I did a bunch of jumping in the shoes too.

I gotta say, what a world of difference. Jumping/running in shoes with the appropriate support and padding was like night and day. And since I am very much aware of how my body moves now, I was actually able to distinguish the subtle differences in each shoe. I'm actually pretty excited to jump with them tomorrow. I may even start mixing it up with running and jumping once PCP is done. Either way, I feel like these were a solid investment.

It also gives me a monetary stake in keeping this up, much as I've said that the price of the PCP is a motivator, the price of the shoes will be a motivator to use them and keep active.