Run 526: When new shoes go bad

Run 526
Average pace: 5:35/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 2:33 pm
Distance: 6.38 km
Time: 35:40
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 24-26ºC
Humidity: 40%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 155
Weight: 157.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 4094 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

Today I got new running shoes. They were on sale!

They made my left foot hurt so much I stopped my 10K run at 6.38 km. It didn’t help that the temperature went from 24-26ºC, either, but it was mostly the shoes.

I picked up a pair of Hoka One One Stinson ATRs, which provide a good amount of support and a more pronounced rocker motion than my Speedgoats. As a bonus, there was also no color-bleeding.

But problems emerged quickly. On the walk to the lake my left foot started to hurt. The new shoes were impressively defeating my orthotics, something no other shoes have done. I got to the lake and started out and even my first km was sluggish. After awhile the left foot began to hurt quite a bit more. The toes even began to feel numb. I thought maybe the orthotic had slipped forward somehow and the pronounced bulge was sitting directly under my toes instead of just behind them, where the toes connect to the foot. After the run I checked but the orthotic was right where it should have been. I planned on bailing on the run at the 6K mark, went a bit further, toyed with going to 7K, then just stopped, figuring running more would yield no useful results.

The only other good news is the repair work on the boardwalk scheduled to start today was nowhere to be seen, so I didn’t have to do some fancy detour to get around it.

But to add the proverbial insult to injury, while the left shoe didn’t hurt my foot as much on the way back, the right shoe started to squeak and pretty loudly at that. The squeaking of the last pair is what doomed them.

The Stinsons are going back to the store tomorrow. I’ll either get a different pair or put up with the Speedgoats a little longer. Squeaking is bad but it’s better than squeaking plus murdering my foot.

My overall pace was a dismal 5:35/km. Because I was getting the cursed shoes in the morning I didn’t run until the afternoon and it was warmer than expected, which was an unpleasant bonus. Also, a bug bite on my right calf itched for the entire run.

At least there were no cyclists.

Leave a Comment