end of an era

i was thrilled when i made the volleyball team in high school. having never been terribly athletic, i still liked the idea of team sports and did the best i could to keep up. volleyball was fun and wasn't as strenuous as the track team, where i was put in the long distance running group and out of personal weakness hid in the bushes or feigned illness for about 10% of the practices because i didn't want to run anymore. it was pretty hideous.

when i joined the volleyball team they had us all purchase the same pair of shoes. we were under strict orders to only wear them during practice, and for games. one girl on the team made the mistake of wearing them during P.E., and i hear she got a talking to. at any rate, i loved these shoes because of their wideness and comfort. and because i felt cool in them - i was an athlete.

so i got these shoes freshman year of high school, age 14. i am now 26. even when my mom said i should stop playing junior year because i needed to concentrate on school, i still continued to wear those darn shoes, and have been wearing them ever since. exercising, or just walking around, i wore these shoes. the new york times consistently posts articles about the need to change your running shoes lest they harm your legs and feet, the ultimate test being whether they bend at the balls of the feet when you push them down when upright. i think it's safe to say that these shoes are past their due.

i wore them all throughout college, trudging home in them after a discouraging night in the study room in moffit that smelled like death. i wore them home on BART after a bad day at my first job. i wore them throughout law school and on the eve of the criminal law final with a gnawing dread that i knew absolutely nothing about the subject. i wore them on our honeymoon while we climbed the monkey mountain in japan. a lot of good and bad things have happened in these shoes.

however, jogging this morning it suddenly dawned on me that it was a very poor idea to be wearing these 12 year old shoes while running, if nothing else but for the well being of my knees, feet, general leg/ hip area. i'm the kind of person who takes pride in holding onto things for a very long while. it kills me just how disposable so many things are, and i get a flush of happiness whenever i salvage and rescue something from the thrift store. my car is old enough to drive itself (it is 16 years +). i have shoes who are in high school. (see purple boots). and so you can see where it kind of pained me to get rid of these shoes, gross and sad as they are.

but i guess it's now time to put these bad boys to rest. i went to the store today and got a new pair that is fairly similar to these, same brand, same styling, different colors. so i guess the legacy lives on.