Does this REALLY Count?

You know the old saying that goes "You want for your kids better than you had it"?  When I was a kid, there was a very popular brand of shoe called Vans.  They had quite a few design options, but thanks to the movies Fast Times at Ridgemont High these were THE ones to get:

I never had a pair.  Now I think I survived just fine NOT ever having these shoes.  I mean, look at them!  But, they were a brand name item and they were pricey and I never had any.  Boo hoo.

Fast forward 25 plus years.  Well, like my mom wisely says "Everything old becomes new again": and over the holiday break, The Boy went to the mall with a friend and came home with a new pair of Vans.  His are caramel brown suede that lace up, but he loves them and they still have that most important feature of all:

They are REAL "Off the Wall" Vans.  And he loves them.  Se la vie.

New Trainers

Remember back in the day when your choice for new sneakers was BLACK or WHITE?  Not the case around here.  Both kids recently bought themselves new cool shoes for school.

The Girl chose Adidas with a yellow toe and blue uppers.  The Boy has a bumble bee like black and yellow pair with touches of fluorescent green. 

I guess I never have to worry about finding them in a crowd.

Mama Got a New Pair of Shoes

I picked up my previous exercise shoes almost a year ago. I broke them in gently and prepped for trek in them. They were duplicates--in every way but cleanliness, where the newer ones excelled--to my first pair of New Balance running shoes. They were comfortable and useful. My nearly 40 miles trek experience wasn't filled with shoe-related disasters, thanks to my reliable old shoes.

Post-Trek and Post-Pool-Closing I began walking, then running/jogging/walking for exercise. I have been doing pretty well. I average about 2.5-3 miles each day. I walk with kids to school and leave them at the corner (safely on the same side of the street as the school) and I continue on my cardio-building way up the hill and around our stake. I see friends bringing kids to school--some who wave and honk and some who attempt to scare me by pretending they are going to run me down. Good times, there, my friends.

The past week or so I have felt increasing pain mid-way up my shins on either side of the bone but not always through the calf muscle. It is a strange place for pain--not the cramp feeling in the calf and not the shin-splint feeling on the bone. I worried I was dealing with stress fractures in my legs. I didn't have time for that. When I mentioned it to a running friend (like a real runner, like a half-marathon type of runner) she asked me how old my shoes were. Huh. I hadn't thought of that.

Sure enough, the new shoes are already aiding my sore lower legs and the fresh cushion on my heel even makes my ankles feel good. Now that is saying something.

I guess I have learned that unlike my goal to keep things as long as I can, maintaining their function without completely wearing something out (does this sound familiar, mom?) this may only work with garage door openers and kitchen appliances. I realize I am hard on things around here and I expect them to last as long as I take care of them. However, my body will wear out if I don't take better care of it, and new shoes occasionally need to become part of that regular maintenance. So I'd better budget in leg-maintenance equipment into my annual budget. New shoes are still cheaper than broken legs.