I Bought $200 Running Shoes

DISCLAIMER: This is not an advertisement for any specific brand of shoes, despite the fact that I will discuss a specific brand of shoes.

I work in the security industry. I'm a security guard. Simple as that. I work two jobs, not entirely because I have to, but because I can, and I want to. My full time position is in a fairly upscale mall in my city, with fairly strict uniform standards.

My second job is at one of our sporting venues. They also have pretty strict uniform standards, too.

Needless to say, I do a lot of walking. Eight hours for my full time job (minus an hour in total of breaks), and then four to six hours at my second job, depending on my deployment.

Because of the strict uniform policies, I started out in both positions wearing a pair of Doc Martens. I like them. They're comfortable. But not for 8 hours of walking. The blisters I got on my feet after my first week on my full-time job, I'm still trying to get to heal.

So clearly, the Doc Martens weren't a good idea. I'd attach pictures of my blisters, but you really don't want to see the hamburger meat that couples as my feet right now. (To be fair - there is actually no blood involved in these blisters, but they do still hurt)

Because my company offers an allowance for shoes/boots (both companies do, actually), I decided I needed to get a pair of black sneakers. I was going to get Vans, because I wore my Vans when I worked at another sporting venue, and managed to stay comfortable for the entire shift - which, for baseball, can be three hours, or six. It's a lot of standing. And my Vans were good.

But I wanted really good shoes. Something soft and cushioney but also functional, and of course they had to be black to match the uniform requirements.

So, I went to a sporting goods store and spoke to the people there whose job is to learn about and sell shoes based on people's activity level and need. I told the sales associate that I needed fully black shoes, and they needed to be comfortable.

Then I threw in the wrench when it comes to me buying shoes.

I wear a child's size of shoe, usually. My Converse are a size three, maybe three and a half I can even fit into size two Converse. My Vans are a size four, I think. So buying good shoes is hard. Very few children's shoes come in full black (I have two pairs of full black Converse - low cut slip ons and high tops). Plus I needed functional as well as comfortable. I'm not running a marathon in these shoes, but I need to be able to walk in them.

Enter the Asics Gel-Nimbus 24 (I have never paid attention to the 'model' of my shoes before. I actually had to look this up). Knowing I'll be getting reimbursed for the bulk of the cost of these shoes made it less painful to put out the $200 (plus tax).

When you consider the cost of Vans or Converse ($35-100, depending on shoe, size, etc) I could have bought several pairs of Vans or Converse. But I needed shoes for work that would be good to my feet.

So, the sales associate showed me two or three different shoes. I tried on the Asics first, knowing I was likely going to love them, and knowing the price came in at over $200.

I was lucky that it was the last pair they had in my size (a woman's six, apparently) and therefore the sales associate was willing to offer me a 10% discount on the shoes because they were the last pair. Okay. Sure. Why not?

Of course, as soon as I put the shoes on my feet and took a few steps, I was sold. I knew I was getting the more expensive pair. And I have not yet regretted that decision.

They were like putting clouds on my feet. Now, I still have some blisters and walking around all day isn't helping, but until I have a day off (Tuesdays and Wednesdays are my Saturday and Sunday) I need to be able to walk.

While I was walking around during my shift today (It's 7 November, if you're interested) I thought to myself that these shoes would also be comfortable when I get back into running, which I really need to do. They're comfortable,, my feet actually don't feel too bad after eight hours of walking around and I could definitely see running in these as well.

I've never spent over $200 on running shoes because I usually just need functional and maybe fashionable, but not so much 'comfortable like walking on a cloud'.

I highly, highly recommend, if you are looking for shoes that you know you're going to get a lot of wear out of, spend money on them. If you have to be on your feet for hours on end, or even if you want good shoes for running, spend the money. You know you're getting quality, and they'll last longer than the cheaper running shoes.

Plus, if you're in a job where you're on your feet all day, you'll rue the day you cheaped out on shoes.