For the past two weeks, I have been running in my more than two years old pair of Saucony Kinvara 10s. They still felt good through several 6ks and a couple of 10ks. I didn't have any issues with them. My feet had no complaints. So while I have been toying with the idea of getting a new pair of lightweight running shoes or a pair of classic racing flats, I thinks I can do well with the shoes that I currently have in my modest collection of five pairs.
Having a new pair of shoes has a way of boosting your performance. You are motivated more than usual to go out there and hit the roads or trails with it. But buying new pairs every now and then can cost a fortune. And shoe prices have skyrocketed tremendously, especially models that carry the new carbon plate a.k.a. "super-fast" technology. For one who has the means, that would be not much of a big deal, but not everyone is in that lucky position.
In the past two years since this pandemic struck, I have run in this pair of Kinvara 10s purchased in 2019, Nike Rival Fly 2s and Merrell Bare Access Flex which I both got on sale in 2020 and 2021, and shoes given by a friend now working in the UK - Asics Gel 451s and Gel Pulse 11s. This is perhaps the most number of running shoes I have had since I don't know when. I did just fine with a single pair for training and racing most of my running years, with a couple or two almost ran down to tatters. We always have our favorite pair or two, don't we?
I have always relied, too, on Timex Ironman sports watches to track my times since I was introduced to it back in my early racing years several decades ago. I have been through more than three (I guess) until I decided to get myself a Timex Ironman R300 GPS smartwatch last year. I still keep my Timex Ironman 50 lap memory sports watch purchased close to a decade ago (I guess, again).
The popularity of running has no doubt created a lucrative market for shoe companies and other sports and fitness gadget manufacturers. The latest to cash in are virtual race organizers who definitely make more than a buck with registration fees that are definitely not cheap.
As simple as it may be as a sport, running can be expensive too if you cannot run with only a single pair of shoes and a pair of comfortable clothing. But isn't that what this is supposed to be all about? Running, the run. It is something you can definitely do even without the fancy shoes and gadgets. It is what matters.
