Cindylocks and the Three Running Shoes: A Cautionary Tale

Once upon a time, in a suburban sprawl not so far away, there lived a middle-aged lady named Cindylocks.  In a second-floor condo made of stucco, Cindylocks toiled away her evenings, running near and far in shoes that never quite seemed “just right.”

One day, Cindylocks ran virtually away from home (possibly motivated by a hormonal and cantankerous 10-year-old child).  She traveled across the country via Internet, searching the land for a shoe that would make her run fast, go far, and eliminate every ache and pain in her over-40-year-old body.

First, Cindylocks found a cotton-candy-pink shoe that cradled her feet in plush comfort and made her feel every inch the Princess she dreamed of someday being.  She ran 10 miles in them one damp, warm night and proclaimed them to be “too soft.”

Brooks PureCadence

Next, Cindylocks came across a shoe that gleamed like an un-ripened lime in the noonday sun.  They were firm and stable, keeping Cindylocks’ delicate feet in militaristic formation.  She ran one mile in them and declared them to be “too hard.”

Nike Lunarglide +4

Discouraged, Cindylocks considered never running again.  Her knee hurt; her feet were grumpy; and she hadn’t slept-in on a “long run” Saturday in six months.  But as she returned the previously purchased shoes, another pair caught her eye.  Mint green with silver and tomato accents, they promised to match not a single item in her wardrobe, but something about them called to Cindylocks and she found herself unable to resist the pull.  She slipped first one, then the other, shoe upon her outstretched feet, adorned in manageable, every-day socks that were far thinner than her special running socks.

Mizuno Wave Inspire 8

Cindylocks took a step, then another.  She walked around her dining table thrice.  She strode across the ragged, shoud’ve-been-replaced-5-years-ago-belt of her treadmill for one mile.  She took the third pair of shoes on the open road and found her step to be lighter, swifter, more joyful than she could ever have imagined!

Upon returning home, Cindylocks proclaimed the mint green shoes with silver and tomato accents to be “just right!”

And her not-evil-but-occasionally-aggravating mother replied, “Aren’t those the same kind of shoes you’d been running in before, only in purple and white?”

Indeed, they were.  But  a half-size smaller.  And mint green with silver and tomato accents.

Just. Right.