Soul, sole: Getting back to working out in new shoes

I've been fighting a battle with myself for the last few months. To make a long story short, I hit a rut with my workouts and motivation, and it was easy to me to procrastinate resuming my regular workouts. There were a lot of balls up in the air for us this summer, and exercise slipped down the priority list. I figured once some of the balls fell in to place, I would go back to my workouts, but then whoever the heck was juggling the balls threw me for several curves.

While working out is normally one of my go-to stress busters, I chose an extra hour of sleep almost every time the alarm would go off for my gym wake-up call. I think part of it is also because I don't get a lot of time with Tim, especially during the week, so it was easy for me to give in to rolling over and cuddling as a way to eek out some extra time with him, and I justified it because my anxiety was at some seriously high levels. Bottom line, I've been depressed, and I know that when I'm depressed I need to work out. Not only are the endorphins scientifically proven to help a sista out, I feel accomplished and productive when I've knocked out a workout in addition to my full day of work and household stuff.

But I had a pity party (truthfully, I'm still having it, although I've limited it to part-time with a limited guest list), and I let myself make excuse after excuse. I've let "overwhelmed and exhausted" trump "accomplished and productive" far too many times. By some small miracle, the scale has been holding pretty steady, but my flab factor feels like it has skyrocketed, and my endurance has plummeted. I needed a swift kick in the pants. I have had no drive to get up early and go run on a treadmill. I have a much easier time talking myself in to a run outside, but because of daylight/Elle constraints, the opportunities there are limited.

Last week I realized that it was super easy to skip the gym when my feet always hurt. I have massive feet, and pregnancy did them no favors, so to say I struggle with suitable, affordable footwear would be an understatement. (Also, not sure if any of you are aware, but "cute" doesn't seem to be in Big Foot's vocabulary, so I struggle with that, too, with my non-athletic footwear.) I got new running shoes earlier this year, but I never really fell in love with them. The pair before that? LOVED them. Ran many a mile and race in them before reluctantly retiring them. But the current pair? Bleh.

I had taken them back to the running store where I had purchased them and explained that - within the first week - my toes hurt. They felt numb. I was advised to wear them more often to break them in - not just while working out, but more in general. They were so-so, and I worked out in them for months, but in the last few weeks, I started to suspect that our relationship was almost over. My toes ached constantly, and even the side of my foot screamed for days after any workout. So I went back to the running store, and the sales associate took one poke at them and said "These are too small." (WHERE WERE YOU EARLIER THIS YEAR?!) So we tried some other shoes, larger sizes, etc. The big issue with my feet that they are not only long, they are wiiiiddddddeeeee. So we tried new shoe after new shoe, and finally, she asked "Have you ever tried men's shoes?" I had not, but apparently men's shoes are wider and often work well for people like me with ginormous feet.

Men's shoe, women's pasty white leg, gym's treadmill.

So far? I'm liking them a lot. I've worn a lot of New Balances in the last few years, but this is my first pair of Brooks. The sales person told me that we needed to find shoes that felt "A-MAY-ZING." I told her I would likely never say a shoe felt amazing unless it was my beloved two-generations-ago running shoe, so she should probably kiss that expectation goodbye. But I'm liking these. My toes are liking these. They don't look like men's shoes, although I'm not exactly trying to win fashion awards at the gym, so that doesn't really matter to me. I have 10 days to try them out, but they can't show wear if I need to return them, so I'm hitting the treadmill and elliptical to test them.

I'm hoping these shoes will help turn around my workout aversions and subsequently help me snap out of my funk. I'm registering for a few 5Ks next month to further motivate me and get some miles on the shoes. The weather in Florida is finally showing signs of cooling off to manageable temperatures and humidity levels, so running a few races is actually ideal. Another perk? Running races around the holidays always seems to help me get through the pumpkin pie haze and mashed potato fests that I tend to indulge in around this time of year. Win, win, win.

Not so big of a win? The jogging stroller with a 30+ pound opinionated toddler - it's a completely different monster (or "monstah," as Elle would say) than it was when we were running in the spring. But that's a blog post for another day ...

Linking up with Ashley, who never fails to entertain and inspire me with her posts, especially as she shares her pregnancy and fitness tales: