Trick or Fleet Feet!!!

For Halloween yesterday I treated myself to a trip to Fleet Feet in Syracuse.  It came highly recommended by a lot of people as THE place to go to get sneakers. 

I have Hobbit Feet - short, wide, hairy.  In addition I have a high arch, high instep and planar fasciitis in my right foot.  I have messed up feet.  Since I'm going to be starting my Couch to 5K this week I decided I needed to get a good pair of sneaks.  I knew I’d be shelling out about $100 for my sneakers but considering what I’m expecting my feet to do over the next year (and hopefully many more to come) that’s a bargain!

I didn’t even get in the door of this place and I was already intimidated.  “What am I doing here???  I don’t belong here.  A 260 pound woman walks into a running store.  This is a joke!”  But we went in anyway and my fear got worse as I heard everyone around me talking about the marathon they just ran or the race last weekend.  I just wanted to die of embarrassment.

Well, that attitude carried over into the first words that came out of my mouth when they asked if they could help me.  “Believe it or not, I’m starting a running program next week and I need some good shoes.”  But you know what?  No one scoffed at me.  No one stared.  No one laughed.  They all said, “Great!  Well, here’s what we do...”

Buying a pair of sneakers at Fleet Feet is not like walking into a shoe store, finding a pretty pair off the wall and trying them on.  Oh no.  Your foot is measured sitting and standing.  You walk on a treadmill so they can examine how you land on your feet.  And they explain every step along the way and why it’s important. 

Dave was the Fleet Feet employee who helped both Drew and myself find the right shoes.  He was fantastic!  He knew what we needed and more importantly how I felt.  He knew I was uncomfortable and embarrassed at first.  We talked about AtOurPace and what we’ve been doing and where we want to be in the future.  We talked about the Ithaca walk we did and our group activities like kickball and paintball.  After a while it almost sounded like we were meant to be there.  A couple of people who are serious about their exercise. 

We spent at least 45-60 minutes trying on different shoes and learning about running.  We talked about the benefits of group training and why it works.  We found out that Fleet Feet has their own group training programs on Sunday mornings.  Granted, living in Auburn is a bit far to partake in that.  Especially with winter coming sooner than we’d all like and driving is NOT something I like to do once the snow starts flying. 

But it gives me some ideas for our AOP group in Auburn.  Maybe once a week we can all get together to either run or walk or hike or play Wii Active --- which is actually a killer workout!  Something that will motivate us to move more and stay active.  It’s something we’ve discussed, but no one’s really come up with a dedicated plan.  But now that the dreadfully busy month of October is over, I think we should really examine this seriously in our next meeting.  Watch the forum for details... 

FYI - Fleet Feet is located on Erie Blvd.  It’s on the same side as and near Shoppingtown Mall.  Come early to mid-January they are moving to Bridge St, near Pier One.  Check out their website for store details and a racing schedule!!!  FLEET FEET SYRACUSE. 

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Remember the war cry....Get a freakin' grip and just do it!