One year on… and still running.

A year ago, I bought a pair of new running shoes, and started running 5km, 3 times a week, every week. Since then I have never stopped. March 16 marks the 1 year milestone since I started this habit. It has been a long journey. But I made it. I managed to keep true to my habits, and now, it has paid off in strides. I look and feel better. I am so much fitter and healthier looking. I am much more emotionally stable, I am happier, more resilient to stress and I don’t fall ill as often.

It was hard keeping up with the habit. I never liked running. I despise it. But I started to anyway when I bought my first pair of running shoes. It was a worthwhile investment looking back at it. Now one year on I ran a total of 500km. Thanks to Runkeeper, an app that tracks my cardio exercises, I logged every single running session for the past year. More than 100 sessions were recorded and I have garnered slightly more than 500km. I have never ran that much in my entire life, much less in a year. For me, this is a fine achievement.

With this much mileage running on my current pair of shoes, it is time for me to get a new one soon. Not that my shoes are wearing out or that the soles are coming out, rather, it would be better for my knees and ankles to have good support by getting a better pair of shoes with better cushioning. The current one has served me well and the cushioning has sort of depleted.

I have been eyeing the Asics Gel Kayano 20. I have tried it at my local sports store, and I really like how it feels. The cushioning is great and it’s stylish as well. However, it’s selling at a whopping $279. If I buy this, it would be the most expensive shoe I ever owned. I have been trying to find other online retailers like amazon and zappos. While amazon sells for cheap, they don’t ship internationally unless it’s sold by amazon itself. And right now, Amazon does not have stock for the shoe that I am eyeing for. Zappos sells the shoe but I would have to go through vPost in order to ship to Singapore. The shipping charges are $20 on top of the $203 shoe that Zappos are charging.

I could get from amazon which is selling at $170. Assuming the shipping charges are the same, at a rate of $20, that would give the total price of the shoes including shipping just shy of $200. I would still save a whopping $79. I don’t need the shoes now, as my current one still works fine, though a little bit stiff, now that the cushioning is pretty much gone. I could wait for a week longer and closely watch the stock availability of the shoes on Amazon. Should it arrive, I will snap it up in no time. But first, I need to confirm the ideal that would fit, by heading to my local store to try it on. I will take note of the size and then purchase the correct one.

The lime green Asics Gel Kayano 20 looks amazing. The colour combination looks fantastic, with a sleek and sharp looking trademarked asics band across the sides of the shoes, with a green mesh at the front allowing the shoes “breathe” and keep your toes cool.

I need to do some serious research on how I can get the best price either through online retailers or through my local stores. It’s a huge investment when it comes to shoes. There is still one more place that I have yet to check it out, and that is Queenstown Shopping center. The place where they sell lots of different sports shoes and sports apparels and equipments.