Buying shoes in person

Since 2007 I’ve run in one type of shoe. Asics GT-2000. Rain or shine, snow or sun, they carry me across roads and trails, through woods and mud. I love these shoes. They’ve had small tweaks over the years, but overall they’ve remained the same.

I’ve come to expect it.

Running is part of my life. I’ve been doing it on and off since I was 19. I love it. It’s part of me.

And alongside that are my shoes.

A few years ago I discovered Goretex, and Asics sold a line of my running shoes with Goretex built in. So even running in snow and slush was solved!

Until now.

For some reason Asics is discontinuing all Goretex running shoes.

I live in the Pacific Northwest. We get rain, snow, sleet, slush. Having a shoe that’s weather proof is a big deal.

It’s such a big deal that I had to switch shoes entirely. Something I was loathe to do. I scoured Asic’s website, Amazon, and Google, to figure out if there was anything I was missing.

Nope.

The shoes are just gone.

Maybe they’ll come back, but my winter shoes are worn down and the time I’d replace them is now.

As all runners know, when you find a pair of shoes that works you should by two, or five, or ten. I wish I had.

So I needed something new, and the hunt began.

I started online. But between Amazon reviews, Reddit forums, and different shoe website I was completely overwhelmed.

So I did something that is increasingly rare for me. I went into a shoe store. We have a local Fleet Feet.

The experience was wonderful.

The amazing sales associate scanned my foot, asked about my running patterns, and emerged from the back with four boxes. That’s all we needed. She has similar running habits to me, knows the local trails and what’s needed, and walked me through the pros and cons of each shoe.

She also knew my shoe size, the type of arch support I need, and could see everything without guessing.

It was fantastic. Instead of a scattershot approach across the web, I had someone focused on helping solve my problem, and willing to take as much time as needed.

We ultimately just tried on three of the shoes, and I bought one and went on my way. I’ll be back for the others in the spring.