Gosh darn it.

I recently had to retire my $15 running shoes that I bought on sale at Target. I'd had them all summer, and before them I had been using a pair that I have had for quite awhile but had never seen any running. Over the summer I grew quite fond of my $15 shoes--they went from pristine to completely filthy and it made me feel quite accomplished. They even have some blood on them because I forgot to clip my toenails before the 10k (they were painted a glorious plum shade, you would have been too distracted by their beauty to remember as well). It made me feel very hardcore to have shoes that look so well worn.

But they had gone too many miles. So starting last week I began using a pair that I bought on clearance at a sporting goods store for $20. Sadly, I do not think this is as glorious a clearance find as the Target shoes.

I can't figure out if its just a slight increase in mileage each week, or if it is the shoes, but I am having tiny aches and pains that I didn't have before. Namely in the arch of my foot, which leads me to believe I am not getting proper arch support. I would rather discover this before I injure myself, naturally, but it is still sad that I haven't bonded with these cheap shoes like I did with the last pair.

I'm pretty sure this means I have to go to a real, honest to goodness, hardcore running store and get fitted for proper shoes. This is both sad because I am poverty stricken and scary because I still feel like a non-runner in the running world.

Also, I feel that running in the rain does make Shawna very hardcore. I am impressed. And can we please re-enact that commercial and make a video of our hardcore awesomeness?