The importance of the RIGHT shoe.

When it comes to shoes, I’m the kind of girl who likes to rock the same Converse low-tops I’ve had for years or I like to wear flip flops.  I don’t give much thought to my shoes except in two cases:  the opportunity to wear super cute heels for events or if I need shoes to work out in.  I learned long ago that you can’t just work out in any old pair of shoes after I spent three days with destroyed ankles after running on the treadmill for too long.  Our bodies need a great amount of support to handle certain kinds of fitness levels.

When tennis started last week my teacher told us how it was incredibly important for us to have the right kind of shoes to play tennis in.  He told us that the kind of support you would need for tennis are different than what you would in running shoes and street shoes.  My teacher also laid down the tennis law on shoes that scuff up the courts and how he would make us go home if we showed up in the wrong kind of shoes.  Knowing this, I accepted the fact that I would have to spend a few hours of my life trying to find the right pair of shoes.  I started at Kohl’s.  They didn’t carry a single tennis shoe.  Next I tried Sports Authority.  They had two pairs of tennis shoes but they were both quite ugly and expensive.  Tonight I tried a warehouse chain called DSW and couldn’t find a single tennis shoe either.

April’s cheap shoes

I did however find a pair of shoes to use for my regular work-outs at the incredibly low price of $15.  I have an extra challenge when it comes to finding shoes that fit as I have giant feet compared to most women.  I wear a shoe size 11 and it nearly impossible to find shoes that fit me and typically takes me about ten stores before I find a pair that work, regardless of whatever kind of shoe I’m looking for.  Sometimes though there is a silver lining and I catch shoes at a huge discount because there aren’t many size 11 ladies out there.  Like my $15 shoes tonight, they’re Nike’s that were once $85 but thanks a giant discount, I walked out with new shoes for $70 less.  I’m pretty sure they’re my first pair of Nike’s too… can’t say I’m a big fan of the company though there was once a time when I loved to draw that swoosh all over my binder in junior high.

Unlike my sister, Alyssa, I’m not a savvy online shopper.  I’m a savvy in-person shopper, racking up saved dollars like American’s stockpile discount candy after the holidays.   i just love those deals and hate spending money on something that I know has very little actual value.  I’ve looked at a few tennis shoes online now but haven’t dug around much because I’m afraid!  What if I buy the shoes and they don’t fit?  What if I buy them and in person that turquoise color online actually is baby blue?  What if they DO scuff the tennis court and my teacher sends me home?!?

I clearly need some guidance here.

Do you buy your shoes online or in person?  How long does it take you to find “the right pair of shoes’?   If you buys your shoes online, would you share your knowledge of websites to check out, please?

Thank you, dear readers!

Lots of love,