Wheee!

I have not been running this week because my blisters still have blisters. And they hurt. Here you go: a photo of the guilty parties (as well as the truly horrible but practical carpet in my hall. Grim it may be, but it hides a multitude of sins). These are the first running shoes I ever purchased. That was over a year and about 500 miles ago and they are deceased. They are ex-running shoes. They have ceased to be. I am considering building a pyre in the back garden (it would be one way of getting rid of the mountain of cardboard from Christmas that I still have not managed to put out for recycling) and giving them a Viking funeral. What do you think? Too much?

So, can you guess what I did at lunchtime today? Want a clue?

Yes, a return visit to Run and Become to try out the new shoes. I wandered around a bit whilst I waited to be served, looking at the strange things for sale ("Bodyglide"?) and watching the other two people buying running shoes - a couple who were at least in their mid-fifties, possibly older - having a whale of a time running up and down the shop in the various pairs being brought for them to try. Their enthusiasm was practically tangible.

I remember when I first ventured in to buy my first shoes, convinced that the staff would laugh and then patiently explain that this was a shop for proper runners and I had obviously come in the wrong door. In fact of course, the staff were brilliant, taking ages to watch me stumble up and down the shop, bringing countless boxes until I found the shoes I needed and all the time asking questions about my running and being incredibly encouraging and upbeat. I give the girl who sold me my shoes no small part of the credit for the fact that I embarked upon the training for my first 5k. Hence the fact that I refuse to do my usual trick of identifying the goods I want in a shop and then buying them cheaper online. I feel that Run and Become provide a service and therefore deserve the sale, too.

Anyway, tried both pairs of shoes on and putting the Asics on just felt....right. The Saucony were okay but just not the ones. So, I came home with a straight replacement - the new version of the same shoes I have run in for the last year. Behold the magnificence:

I now have absolutely no excuse for not getting stuck into the running again. Goodness knows my weakness for brie, oatcakes and pasta carbonara (a large plate of which I have just finished) means I could seriously do with the exercise.

And on a last triumphant note, the vouchers arrived from PC World today, so we can go out and buy a shiny new laptop at the weekend.