In Frema's Gym Shoes

I worked in a shoe store once. It was my sophomore year in college, and I was looking for another job to supplement my part-time position at the local Sam Goody. (Actually, it was On Cue, a franchise of the Musicland Corporation specially designed for small-town populations, but my discount was applicable towards Sam Goody, and I was transferred to Chicagoland Sam Goodys for summer and Christmas vacations, so it may as well have been.) It was a pretty boring job, as my routine consisted of aligning the sole of each left shoe toward the inside of the box, gossiping with the assistant manager over bad Chinese food, and alternating my Dixie Chicks and Faith Hill CDs in the disc player. Rensselaer has no more than seven thousand residents, and for six thousand nine hundred and eighty-three of them, their daily agendas did not include updating their edition of the little black heel or pimping out their eight-month-old baby with fifty-dollar Nikes. When the remaining seven did grace us with their presence, they didn't ask a lot of questions, opting instead to pull box after box off the shelf to play Cinderella with pair after pair of Carhart steel-toe boots. We had those silver insert-your-heel-here foot measurements seen in department stores and reruns of Married, With Children, gathering dust behind the cash register, but nobody requested such service, and I never thought to offer.

I mention this because I was in a shoe store last weekend, and for the first time since my age could be expressed in single digits, both of my feet were examined by an industry professional.

At first I thought the visit was pretty self-indulgent, having purchased a pair of cross-trainers two months ago specifically for exercising at the Y, a pair Luke argued were eerily similar to the ones I was already sporting, but I think he exaggerated. See for yourself.

See the thicker blue zig-zag, the extra mesh on the new shoe? Totally different!

While the shoes cast a lean look on my ginormous nine-and-a-half stompers, after ten minutes of wear my baby piggies were pushing against the outer walls much like the way a quarterback charges through an opposing team's defensive line. (I said that correctly, didn't I?) Not exactly inspiring for a health-resistant twenty-something who doesn't need any more excuses to pull off the road to wellness. Turns out the problem's been related to my shoe size this whole time, and was only resolved due to the clerk's insistence that I try on a ten. A TEN, people. I've worn a size nine dress shoe since high school and eventually upgraded my gym shoe to a nine and a half to allow a bit of breathing room for my toes, which never seemed to be comfortable, but I had refused to entertain the possibility that my feet were as big as my waistline. So I couldn't remember what it felt like to wiggle my big toe. Who needs the damn things anyway?

Now, thanks to my SIZE TEN SHOES, OH MY HOLY GOD, I offer humble apologies to the largest little piggies of the bunch. They've been quite useful during our fitness excursions, stabilizing my balance on the treadmill and in step class, blissfully unaware of the swelling, crushing, and crippling pain that once dominated their past. How my heart sings for all three of us! Behold the monsters that made this new courtship possible.

On first glance, these were my least favorite pair, and the last ones I tried, because for some reason my subconscious associates pink sneakers with nineteen eighties L.A. Gear. However, they were the only ones narrow enough to support my arch and long enough to bestow upon my toes some much needed personal space. So far I've worn them twice, and each time I fall a little more in love. I even like the pink. When I'm grunting like a dog in heat and sweat is coagulating in the crevices of my sports bra, their implied femininity couldn't be more appreciated.

I guess size really does matter.

For more soleful goodness, see parts one and two.

Comments

[debi]

Oh my God,it's not just me. When I was in my 20's and 30's I wore a size 7. Little by little I am now a size 8 1/2. Nobody told me this was going to happen. Then again nobody told me my butt would get bigger either.

[Jenabeeb]

This is SO funny that this is your post today. I was downtown and stopped in a Payless store. I was trying on a few size 10s (which is what I wear, thank you very much, there's nothing wrong with double digits for feet!) they were all TOO BIG even with my thicker than usual socks on. I ended up buying a size 9 which fit perfectly.

And the pink shoes are nice. New Balance are great and just think of them being in support of breast cancer awareness or something for the color!

[Lindsey]

My shoe size has gone from an 8 to a 7 or 7 1/2. I don't get it. Maybe it is the shoes? Now I will be nervous everytime I try on shoes, just waiting for the day that they say 8 1/2! EEK! :-)

Do feet keep growing as you age? Or is that just noses?

[Judy]

ah yes, the shoes are the most important part. also, if it makes you feel any better, New Balance always run small. i have to get a size larger than i normally wear, too.

[Kelley]

The shoes in my closet are all one of THREE different sizes (well, by half size increments, but still). And you know how when shoes are only available in whole sizes they tell you to order up if you're inbetween? Well, that's only true about half of the time - sometimes you need to order down.

I've come to terms with the inconsistency in clothes sizing, but shoes? It makes online shopping so risky these days...

[Lost A Sock]

Welcome to the Sasquatch Club. I am your club president, having spent a lifetime in size 10. Occasionally I go 9 1/2. Whenever the shoe size discussion arises, I try to bow out as gracefully as possible. However, whenever the bra size discussion comes about I am one of the proud ring leaders. It balances out.

(Did I somehow just compare boobs and feet?)

And I have to agree with the other 10 above me, I love me some New Balance shoes.

[Rachel]

Why do we women force ourselves to wear shoes that don't fit. I just don't get it, I do it, but I don't get it.

I like the new shoes by the way.

[Becky]

This post is hilarious. An eerily similar thing happened to me not that long ago - I was in a Nike outlet store and wanted to buy a new pair of workout shoes (a pair I swore I'd keep only for the gym), but I couldn't find a comfy pair... a salesman happened to pass me at that moment, and offered to help me find the right fit for my foot. He started by measuring, and I laughed and said I'd worn a 10 since high school, a fact that used to embarrass me but one that I now embrace. He asked me to humor him and his measuring device... turns out I need a 10.5. I couldn't believe it, and I almost refused to try on the huge monster he passed over to me... but I did, and just like you - my feet love me for it. It's so much more comfortable! Mine aren't pink, though; they're gray. I guess to mourn the passing of my youth... because evidently I associate a size 10 shoe with youth.

Anyway... where's there a shoe store in Rensselaer?!

[Silly Hily]

Holy size 10 Frema. I figured you would be like a size 6 or something since you are so petite. I can't believe you wear a 10. Not that it's bad, I just can't believe it.

But any who, New Balance shoes are so fabulous for working out in. I have a pair of plain white ones that I work out in and I love them so. Advice.....don't wear those shoes for every day use. Keep those New Balance as your "work out" shoes. They'll last longer and provide your foot with the support it needs for as long as possible. Wear your old shoes to go shopping or bum around in. Or, because I'm like a fitness professional now (seriously?) tell Luke I said you MUST have a new pair of shoes to bum around in. A size 10, that fits, because you can't wear your "work out" shoes unless you are working out.
(I know. You love me.)

[Kristie]

I feel your pain. I have gained a quarter to a half of a shoe size with each pregnancy ... and I've been pregnant FIVE TIMES! That menas over the past few years, I've gone from a cute size 8 to a size 9 1/2, sometimes a 10.

And what's even weirder??? I mourned the loss of my cute size 8's, and eventually accepted my size 10 destiny, only to lose 25 pounds and suddenly my size 10s are too big --- WTH???

So, much like I have "fat" clothes in my closet, I guess I need to keep some fat shoes and thin shoes. Or, just keep shopping a lot.

Looking foward to the CD swap -- thanks again for letting me join.

[daddy d]

Good tools are always the rightway to go. There needs to be toe room and sox room, also.

Another, good job.

[VirginiaGal]

I wear a size 5(!) and I'm actually looking forward to pregancy foot enlargement so I can find shoes that fit instead of sliding off the back of my heel and flopping around. Much better to wear a size (even if it is a 10) which most manufacturers recognize exists.

[Brooke]

I have the same white and pink nike shoes!

[Sambo V.]

I'm so glad to know your feet are breathing happily. I had to suck it up a bit when I had to buy a size eight and a half a few pairs ago. I go back from 8-8 1/2....comfort is what counts. :)