Nostalgia...

So I was looking through the Born to Run forum site, and there was a link to a "new" blog "Zero Drop". And near the bottom of the page is an entry on Nike history ( http://zero-drop.com/?p=227 ). In that post is a picture of the Nike line from 1977... And front-center in that picture is the Nike Daybreak, the first real running shoe I ever wore. Actually, I went through two pair of those shoes, and put THOUSANDS of miles on them (far more than I should have, I'm sure). Wore them out completely.



These shoes were built on a straight last, so straight, in fact, that you had to look at the insole to tell which shoe went on which foot until it was well worn-in.
I moved on from the Daybreaks to wear Columbias, Terra TCs (in both incarnations), some motion control shoe (the only time I ever had ITB issues), Vortex (three pair of these), Pegasus (forst generation), Air Maxs (in 1989 and a couple years ago), American Eagles, Waffle Trainers and Waffle Racers, and... several other models I've long forgotten about. Along the way I tred several other
manufacturers with varied success: Reebok (London TC racers and one pair of training shoes), Saucony (Jazz, which lasted just two days, a model that was designed by Scott Tinley, and the current Kinvaras), and... Surprisingly I think that's about it. Never anything by Adidias. Just the wrong fit.

So anyway, it was funny and interesting to see this post with the picture. Took me back to my young and indestructible days. I don't think I'd survive in those shoes today. But in some ways I'm more returning to my early running roots by running mostly off-road. Cross Country at my high school, starting in fall 1980.

I ran a 6 miler yesterday. The weather gods were smiling on me (they have all week). Afterwards, my lower legs (shins) were feeling it a bit. Not painful, more like a tightness. Still here this morning a little bit, but I'll be taking it easier today, and be back at it tomorrow.