a sense of closure

thursday night i met with my running group, not for a run, but for a coffee after their run. we were talking about my injury a bit, and they were asking me how i think it started -- i was following the same running schedule they were, knock on wood, no one else has had anywhere near the issues i've had, and some of the group are 50-somethings who are still going strong.

i've blogged a number of times about shoes, and my difficulty finding the right shoes.  I know that many have brand loyalties, etc, but i haven't been able to stick with a pair of shoes long enough to know.  SLB, you commented once about orthotics and shoes, wish I had listened then.

this topic has been on my mind since thursday, so monday i had to find a way to get some peace of mind.  I have a few runner friends who happen to work at the local running store, so they have given me their opinion through various discussions (post-injury), which i absolutely value and will remember once i can get back out to running;  I trust their opinions.

I also trusted the opinion of a young girl working at the store (maybe should have been my first warning flag) that overheard my conversation while stretching out after a run back in April i think.  I had just gotten my orthotics and was getting adjusted to them.  She came to us and said that with orthotics I was in the wrong shoes, I should never wear orthotics with a stability type shoe and that I was more prone to over-pronation as the orthotic is correcting what the shoe was also helping to correct with the support.  As a fairly new runner, new to orthotics, speaking to someone who has been trained to work with shoes and runners, and running, I listened and immediately started testing and trying on new shoes.  I bought a new pair a few days later.  Vacation came and went, back to more consistent running, and pain starting in my shin.  Thinking it was a process of getting used to the hills we were running, new shoes, orthotics, etc, I thought it was normal; icing after my runs should help.   

Fast forward a bit now to june, when this pain in my shin just won't go away, redo my gait analysis, bad news.  The shoes I had been sold were worse for me than my original shoes without orthotics.  I pronated much worse in the neutral shoe with orthotics.  Having already logged 100km+ on these shoes, I start the process over again with another salesperson, and told him that according to my doctor and contrary to the store's belief, i need to be in a stability shoe.  He said that normally they wouldn't do that, but if that's what my doctor said, then ok.  So again, I settled on another shoes, and we'll see what happens.  I probably logged about 30km+ on these shoes now, my Saucony's, before the pain was unbearable, and fast forward to now, it's stress fractures.

So there's a bit of the history.  Monday, I logged onto the store's website, and sent an email. I wanted to find out what their theory was when selling shoes to customer's with orthotics.  I was pleasant, I promise. I was led to believe that stability shoes + orthotics was a critical NO-NO. Couldn't this be as individual as personal taste?  Aren't everyone's feet, needs different? How can there be such a bold line?  This is what I was looking for, a better understanding on their thinking, and how they teach their staff.  What happened next was rather surprising.

I got an email back from the president of the company within a few hours explaining that without knowing the runners' history, shoes, without seeing them walk, it would be impossible to tell if the wrong shoes had been recommended, but that he copied my email to an area manager in my area, and I would be contacted to arrange a more thorough assessment.  As promised, I was contacted... quickly.  He asked me if tuesday or wednesday would be ok to meet, and where would be most convenient.  I set up an appt. for 5:30 yesterday.  He asked that I bring in all my shoes.

That's what I did.  I filled up my gym back with my pre-orthotic shoes, my neutral shoes, and my new stability shoes.  When I got to the store yesterday to meet with him, I explained that I didn't mean to cause such a big deal out of this, that I was just seeking some info, and certainly didn't want to get anyone in trouble.  They were very understanding and explained that they wanted to use this as a learning opportunity for their staff as well, and that it was no trouble. He also had the area manager of the original store where I purchased my small fortune of shoes join us as well.  Like I said, this was not expected.  

For about 20 minutes we discussed the history of my running, the shoes, the orthotics, the recommendations.  He took a very close look at the tread of each of these pairs, and commented.  He had me walk a bit, and agreed that the first sales girl, without malice, had prescribed the wrong shoes.  Given where the little wear was on my shoes, I should not have been in a neutral shoes as I still needed the additional support.  He apologized for the injury, and said that while they could not turn back time or make the injury go away, he agreed with me that the injury may have resulted from a poor choice of shoes, based on a recommendation. Is this for sure?  No, of course not.  Does this make it any better?  No, because I still had to walk out of the store with my air cast, but did I feel relieved knowing this? Absolutely.  He watched me walk in my latest pair of shoes that I bought, and agreed that these were a much better choice for me, but without being able to watch me run, it's difficult to say 100%. Regardless less, a stability shoe it is. 

They were nice enough to also refund me the money spent on that poorly recommended pair of shoes.  Again, not something that I was looking for, but a very nice thing to have done, considering they were bought months ago.

Now please understand, that the above is written without bitterness, resentment; anything like that. I contemplated even writing this, because I wasn't looking for a way to blame my injury on anyone... but shoes are not cheap, and being injured, having to watch runners everywhere around me, sucks.  I wanted to be able to trust their expertise when I need to make my next purchase.  I was looking to understand, gain knowledge and trust.  I accomplished all 3. So to the Running Room company, thank you for caring so much, and taking the time to help make it right.  There are not enough companies that care for their customers this way anymore.  Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to give credit where it was due, and if anyone else can learn from my mistakes, then I'm glad to have shared.

To Marlene, running your first marathon, go get'em girl!  Also good luck to Lily, Marci.

Kris, to whom I work with and sold my bib to, good luck!  Patricia, Ueli, JL, Louis-Yves, Dan, Luciana, all friends and co-workers that I had registered with, and some who i had to convince to run, have a great race!  I'll be back next year to run it with you guys!   anyone who i missed, sorry, and good luck as well  :)