#runninglab

"I have too many running shoes!" - says no runner ever!  Yet, if it's for a good cause; then I guess donating an old pair is called for. This pair of Nike Free was my first running shoes per se. I was still in Oz, and have signed up for Bridge to Brisbane, 5km. I bought it online from the Nike website for AUD98, and got it delivered. I was a bit apprehensive as I didn't try it on before the purchase as I did for most of my shoes, but I guess this shows my naiveté when I first started running. The website said it's a pair of running shoes, and I bought it online as it was cheaper than in the stores at the time. I had another pair of Nike which I brought to Oz from Malaysia, one which I used for my on/off gym classes. That pair served me well too, until it fell apart in 2010; and one that made the purchase of this pair urgent.  This was the pair of shoes where I put all 85-90kg of myself into and started to push myself out the door. I started by counting the number of streetlights along the Brisbane River on the St Lucia campus- telling myself to just get to the next streetlight after every run. I got to the next streetlight, and then the next, and the next. Over a couple of months, I could comfortably jog from St John's to the Kayak Club and back. And it felt like such an accomplishment. 

Coming back to Malaysia in Dec 2010, I bought a Brooks Ghost 3 to alternate with this pair of shoes. Yet after a year, it was relegated as gym training/dancing shoes. I then purchased a pair of Vibram in December 2011 and that then became the alternative to my Ghost 3. All three pairs served me well until today. This year, I invested in a Saucony Cortana and a pair of Newtons, bought within 4 months of each other. I mainly use the Cortana and Newtons for running now, with the Ghost 3 serving as gym/trail shoes and Vibram for TRX. I guess, it was time to let go of my Nike Free.  And I did today. It was by chance that The Running Lab is organizing yet another donation drive for old pair of shoes. I donated an old pair of Chuck Taylor's before in 2011 when they had a similar drive for Orang Asli, and I was happy to let go of my Nike Free to the Salvation Army this year.