Let us start this blog by going back a few years to when I was seventeen (way too many years for my liking).
One of my first jobs after leaving school was at a sports shop called Cobra Sports. Unfortunately, I don’t think that the company exists anymore; it went into liquidation while I was working there, however, during my time there, I was trained very well, and taught how to ensure that the general public got the best out of their sports footwear and clothing. One of the things I had learned along the way is that trainer technology is not a fad. I spent so many hours trying to explain this to runners, parents, gym-goers, convincing them that the air bubble was useful, that Gortex is an awesome fabric and that you shouldn’t wear tennis trainers for running marathons. Some would listen intently, and some (mainly parents) didn’t want to know, and alas, little Jimmy would leave the shop without his Nikes and in some cheap crap that will probably ruin his knees by the time he is forty.
After the many years that have passed me by since those glory days at the sports shop, I have gone from being a Semi-Professional basketball player, to a Division One Sunday league footballer; then followed twenty years of martial arts until I finally found my feet as an Ultra-Runner last year. Somewhere along the line, though, I started to think those expensive trainers were unnecessary. They can’t possibly make much of a difference, can they?
For years I bought nothing but Karrimor runners, spending between £25 and £50 maximum on a shoe that, considering the hell I put them through, did very well. I never got blisters, even after running races like the Classic Quarter (44 miles) and training runs of 40 miles over all sorts of nasty terrain. My partner, being an ultra-runner herself (and substantially more experienced than I), had always sworn by Salomon’s and thus the conversion began. One wet day, after running a nice and easy ten miler on the south coast of Cornwall, I got home to realise that I had run the sole off my Karrimor Sabres and was forced into my old Karrimor G30’s. They are solid, and for a bargain price of £45. They have outlasted two pairs of Sabres which have not been the hardy shoe I had hoped for. Yet after doing a gentle twenty-mile jaunt with my good pal, Jon (some of you may know him from previous blogs and videos), my feet were in a lot of pain. I knew that these old faithfuls were not going to cut it for long haul running and so I got on my computer and started trawling through the millions of options out there.
I was pretty broke at the time, and almost succumbed to the Karrimor pricing once more. Thankfully, my ego and my partner convinced me otherwise. I mean what kind of ultra-runner would be seen dead in Karrimor? So I pushed the boat out and listened to my girlfriend’s sales pitch, which kinda reminded me of seventeen years old me, but not in a weird ‘I want to date myself’ kinda way. I opted to go for the Salomon Speedcross 4. I was away when I ordered them, so on the journey home, knowing I had a pair of shiny new trainers to greet me, i felt somewhat like a kid in a candy shop with a fresh tenner from grandma. I was also curious about how an expensive pair of trainers was going to feel on Karrimor-hardened feet. Would I get blisters? Would they be a disappointment? Did I waste my money? The answer was most definitely, NO!
On my first run, over incredibly muddy and wet terrain, I managed two seven-minute miles and four at sub nine minutes, which for an amateur runner on storm-ridden trails, felt like flying. I weighed both pairs of shoes and found that the Salomon’s were about four times lighter than the old faithfuls, and the grip and stability was a game-changer. I realised that I had been spending a lot of time making my life more difficult by stubbornly telling myself I didn’t need expensive trainers to run these distances; that it was all just fad. I had become one of those annoying parents that I used to shake my head at (without the children).
So, I have decided from this blog forth, I will not be a cheapskate anymore, and that trainer and clothing tech can make a substantial difference to the comfort of a long-distance run, injury prevention and the amount of money that is in your bank account. Oh well, I guess you can't take it with you. Now, where is the closest Salomon or Raidlight shop? I can’t wait to find out what else I can replace to make my running adventures even better.
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