It all began with my first pair of running shoes. Some cheap New Balance trainers that I had since I was in 6th grade. I was beginning freshman year and was running in size 5 trainers. I was a tiny kid. As my freshman season began to get into full gear I learned of a new thing that I had not heard of before, flats. Now when I first heard of it I thought What? They want us to wear girl shoes? Soon enough I was buying my first pair. I remember them well. A pair of waffle racers that the whole guys team bought together. I felt like a part of something. I had no idea at the time but those size 6.5 flats would spark somewhat of a fascination for racing shoes. Those flats were in use until the end of my freshman year. They took me to a 2 mile PR the last race of the season, 2 weeks after being in the hospital for 5 days for a back injury after PRing in the mile. I finished freshman year with those shoes with PR's of 5:47, 12:27, and 20:07. My mom now uses them to mow the lawn with...
At the end of track season I ended up buying my first 2 pairs of spikes. Since I intend to write about each as I wore them, I'll talk about these later.
As my first pair of flats began to deteriorate I was in need for a new pair of flats for my sophomore season. So I went with the first and only thing I could find at a sporting goods store, another pair of waffle racers. Why change something that wasn't broken was my logic here. The first pair served me well so why not these. This led me to my favorite season of high school. Every race that was possible for me to medal in I did. They were the shoes I wore when our school got to CIF for the first time in 5 years. A second place finish in league, Montclair's first male Mt. Sac medalist. It was a perfect season for me.
These is where my mass buying started. I remember the day well. The local Sports Chalet was closing and was selling everything in the store for cheap. This is where I found my first real pair of spikes. I was looking all throughout the store for different kinds of shoes and then I opened a box with spikes I had never seen before. They looked like sprinting spikes to me because that's what my coach believed they were. The box said milers and they looked amazing to me. Blue upper with a grey stripe and a red swoosh. They just looked so perfect. I had to have them. The suggested retail was almost 100 bucks but got them for 9.99. Such a steal. Still one of my favorites. I've been dying to get my hands on another pair of these in my size now. Unfortunately for me my league only had one all-weather track and the plate was pretty much destroyed by the dirt. I ended up quitting half way through the season due to coaching conflicts.
These spikes for some reason caught my attention. I was searching through and found these and liked them. For 10 dollars I couldn't help but purchase them. I loved these spikes during my sophomore track season. They just clicked with me. I ran almost every race with them. I had a good ride with these. These are the only Addidas I have ever and probably will ever own.
I honestly have no idea why I bought these. I guess 10 dollar shoes were too good to pass up. They were too big for me and when I grew into them I found better shoes. I lost the other shoe. What a waste.
That sophomore track season was a tough season for me. I fell under peer pressure from the "fast" kids and ended up quitting because of them and our cross country coach. I have been pretty much in denial about this season but I'll man up and say that this season was a failure for me because of my attitude and my lack of independence. If I could repeat any season it would probably be this one. It was a waste and I feel like I could have done much more with a positive attitude.
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