Michael: Conspicuous Consumption

The buzz of a fly;
The occasional bird song;
Otherwise silence.

Friday, September 28, 2018

When we were living in Panama, I vowed to only purchase 4 pairs of shoes per year. I’ve blown through that barrier in less than two months here, and now I’m afraid there’s no looking back.

Within the last two months I’ve purchased New Balance Sonics (on sale at Running Warehouse - RW), Hoka Speed Instincts (also on sale at RW), Hoka Torrents ( at RW minus their 10% discount) and Hoka Speedgoat 2s at Fleet Feet for 10% off.

Naturally, no purchase is without at least a minimum of necessary rationalization, though thankfully Kimme no longer questions me about my foot fetish fancies, so long as I throw a pair her way once in a while.

So here goes; The Sonics are for road racing and duathlons. Just last week I used them as my second shoe in a du at Camp Pendleton and I’ll use them again in a couple of weeks for the RAD 10 miler in Agoura Hills.

The Speed Instincts are my Monday trail running shoes. The Torrents are  my short to medium trail racing shoes and, what I was hoping would be my long racing shoes - the Speedgoats - are now going to serve as pinch hitters - in long trail races where a drop bag is allowed. I was hoping that the Speedgoats would serve as my primary shoes in 50ks and up, but despite having more cushioning, the Torrents just fit my feet better. At the end of the month I’m going to use them at the Rocky Peak 50k and if they work there, I’ll feel good about going with them over the Speedgoats. But if they let me down I’ll move the Speedgoats up in the batting order, and if they don’t work, it’s back to the reviews, REI, RW, and whatever promise land of foot comfort is on the horizon.