The shoes I’ve been using have 220 miles on them so I wanted to get a new pair so I can wear the new and old pairs for a few weeks of overlap. I’ve started getting some pains in the ball of my left foot so I figured that’s even more of a sign to go and get some new shoes.

The nearest running store to me is a New Balance store. I’ve never run in a NB shoe, but I decided to try them out.

The experience was actually quite pleasant. I went yesterady afternoon and they weren’t busy at all. Must be because it was mid-week. There was only one other customer and I didn’t feel bad monopolizing the time of one of the sales persons. The last time I went to a speciality running store, it was on a weekend and while the sales person there din’t rush me, I felt rushed as there were a lot of other customers milling around with no one to attend to them.

I took my current shoes and my previous shoes which had 240 miles on the them. The sales person examined the treadwear and eventually decided I needed a neutral cushoining shoe. The same diagnosis from the other running store.

I tried several pairs on, including one that didn’t look like a running shoe so I passed on it. I eventually bought a pair of 1061 shoes for $118 including taxes. These are the most expensive shoes I’ve bought so far. The shoes I’m running in were half the price at $60. I would have bought another pair of those, but it was a discontinued model when I bought them and I can’t find a size 12 anywhere online. The NB shoes I got are a 2007 model so if they work out, I should be able to find replacements quite easily.

The real test will be the next week or so. I’m hoping to do a 7-mile run today so I’ll try them out. I’ll use my older shoes for my long run on Sunday and then probably alternate the new and old shoes for a couple weeks.