So, I’ve been thinking for some time now that I needed to get a new pair of “tennis shoes”. The term “tennis shoe” is one that my family has been using for decades, and it refers to all non work, dress, hiking shoes that are typically designed for some of track and field type sport. Growing up, I always seemed to end up with Nike shoes. They were definitely in style, and mom and dad somehow managed to wheel and deal the shoe dealer into getting us Nikes each time we needed shoes.

During high school, I went through a phase where I owned a pair of LA Gear shoes, and a few pair of Reebok here and there. And, I went through a no-name phase, where I got shoes real cheap and watched the soles fall off of them in the first few months of ownership, etc. etc.


Anyway, that’s a little background. To catch everyone up to where things are currently at, a few years ago (probably 3-4, let’s say) I went to the local Shoe Carnival store and purchased a pair of New Balance shoes. The “model” number on the shoes was 804. I tried on pair after pair, and the 804 was the shoe that really felt good in the store. And, the shoe felt good as I wore it. I’m not really a grey-colored shoe guy. I prefer standard white shoes, but this shoe did feel good. I was mostly sedentary during the time I owned this shoe.


A couple of years back I decided it was time for a new pair of shoes, so I went back to Shoe Carnival. Needless to say, it is one of the corrolaries to Murphy’s law that you’ll never find the same shoe twice, and this time was no exception. You walk into the Shoe Carnival, they are playing the peppy musack, and every 3 minutes they tell you to come spin the wheel to get 10% off of a pair of socks if you buy 3 pair of shoes, and they have aisles and aisles of shoes. They have an aisle for Cross Training, an aisle for Basketball, etc. So, I went to where the shoes were at that were similar to the 804s that I was wearing, and didn’t find any 804s. I ended up leaving, only to come back a few weeks later and purchase a pair of 480s. The 480s weren’t a bad shoe. They didn’t hurt me or anything. I was sedentary during most of the time I wore these shoes. During the tail end of the 480 Reign I started working out more. For the past four months or so, I’ve been trying to kick the sedentary habit and have been walking, jogging, and running a fair amount. I’ve been thinking about getting new shoes for some time now… Probably the last 10 months or so.


But, I don’t get in a hurry about doing these things, and just ended up back in the Shoe Carnival in the past month or so. I figured that my exercise regime called for some new leather. Needless to say, they didn’t have any New Balance 805s, or 480s. And, there isn’t any way to really reference a current model shoe with what might have been in the past. There isn’t any obvious rhyme or reason to the numbering scheme (obviously they don’t just go in increasing order) so the hundreds place probably means something.. Who knows? Anyway, I ended up getting a pair of 504s. Perhaps these are related, in some small way, to the pair of 804s that I started out with. One of life’s little conundrums. The 504s don’t look too bad. I like a shoe that looks somewhat like a running shoe. I don’t care for the flat-footed looking walking shoes. So, the 504 passed the look test. It felt OK in the store. Was it a good shoe? Well, it’s hard to tell based on the shoe box. But, I had had good luck with New Balance in the past.

Shoe Carnival was running a special that night (No, that’s not the unique part.. they are always running a special) where you could get a second pair of shoes for half price. So, I ended up finding a pair of Nike shoes that looked like good running shoes and purchased them. Let me get the Nikes out of the way first. They are good shoes. They are light, and I can run in them for miles without any noticeable ill effects.

The New Balance shoes, on the other hand, are simply inadequate for my current lifestyle. They are fine for walking around work. But, any time I do any serious walking (4mph for > 2 miles, let’s say) I start seeing problems. And, I see these problems within a few minutes if I try to use them for jogging. When I start the exercise, everything is fine. But within a short amount of time I start noticing that my lower legs are hurting. Around the area where the calf is at, but the pain is on the front side of the leg. So it isn’t like a muscle that is hurting. It’s just a pain. And, I start noticing that, when walking, my feet start falling flat on the pavement. It’s as though the shoes aren’t giving me any “roll” as I move down the street. I just fall flat on my feet with each step, which is also uncomfortable. With the Nikes, I can run for miles without noticing problems.

Bottom line, I’m most likely not going to be purchasing any more New Balance shoes. I’m quite pleased with the Nikes, and my brother has recommended Asics as a good brand as well. I have also heard that you are supposed to wear a running show for 100 miles. After that time it has lost its cushioning and should be replaced. Well, I doubt that I’ll be quite that strict, but I definitely anticipate that I’ll be updating the shoes more often now that I’m exercising more. Hope this helps someone out there.

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