Outside bookstores and art material shops, I cannot abide shopping. It makes me wanna cry. I am the universe's opposite of normal females who love to buy shit they don't need - it just makes them look whatever passes for pretty for the season. I'm not saying pretty people aren't cool or that there are no handsome things I wouldn't know what to do with, but in all honesty, what the fuck would I want to do with clothes or non-functional shoes? I have too many of that stuff. I just need shit to serve a purpose. The colours being fab spring/summer or bringing out the green in my eyes is entirely optional.
That said, I needed new shoes, new trail runners. Physically needed - my old ones were causing me pain.
Here is a list of things "wrong" with my feet:
- My arches are too high. It is almost impossible for me to find fitting sandals. Or Dr. Martens.
- My foot length is 35.5 (around 5 US) My foot WIDTH is 38 (US size 7)
- My toes are impossibly short, with the pinky sticking out, a small hazelnut with a tiny hint of a thick nail tip. If those can, they will rip though the shoe side within weeks
- I cannot abide heels, so zero drop is perfect, whereas most shoes are built with a bit of heel
- They are pronated
... I didn't have the balls to order the Altras on-line, because it is paramount I try them first. We went to a large outdoor shoe outlet and it was terrible. I tried a dozen, but they are all almost exactly the same: they LOOK awesome, bright colours and some shit sewn with it to make them look interesting, but the toe box was always too snug, they were always on weird, unstable soles and most of them, I could tell, would fall apart after 250 miles.
We tried Adidas, which, oddly, sold me the perfect pair two years ago - soft as slippers, memory foam soles, hardened outer rim, perfect toe box, which I wore every summer until today. They were amazing. Alas, this year Adidas has a joke of sports shoes - they are NOT in the slightest designed for outdoors, uncomfortable, difficult, unstable shoes - at least what little they were offering in that shop.
I was about to leave crying, exhausted and feeling like shit, especially because in most stores nobody bothered for ages to come assist us. Miserable, we stopped for one last try at the store where G gets his work shoes, narrowing down the least wrong options with the help of a nice saleslady - a half serious case of an Adidas and a fancy Karrimor ... but then I tried - though i am never quite sure about them, their audience is split 50-50, Salomon and it wasn't terrible. I chose size 38, so three sizes too big, taking in consideration all hikers need at least a size too large to allow for the toes to spread. In my case not so much spread as just move around in the toe box a bit, not having the toenails bothered, ever. their price was slightly higher than others, which was reassuring, and I've already tested them a little. Good shoes, not sublime, but good. I'll test them some more tomorrow, see what the feet have to say after a distance.
I think we did good. I can't wait for summer, when I can wear my old Karrimor sandals - oddly enough the best walking shoe I've ever owned. Weather prognosis is another chill wave with flakes in it. No matter. I have the holy trinity now: winter hiking boots, trail runners and sandals. Not ever need more.
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