Sneakers for Work, Sneakers for Play

Throughout high school I purchased sneakers for “work”, meaning for running cross country and playing lacrosse. I couldn’t really rationalize (to my parents) the need to buy both fun and useful sneakers so I stuck with the ugly Sauconys. In college and for a few years after, I didn’t work out at ALL. I avoided running like the plague, so I chose to buy sneakers based solely on appearance. Recently, I’ve been working out using 3 year-old Pumas and 6 year-old Polo Sport sneakers, both of which I had purchased because they were pretty. As a result, my toes were getting numb after about 20 minutes on the elliptical. So, given that I hadn’t purchased sneakers in three years, I decided it was time to buy both useful sneakers and attractive sneakers.

Enter the Lady Foot Locker buy one get one 50% off sale. I looked at a bunch of sneakers, and the most comfortable and supportive sneakers I found were the Nike Shox Saikano+. They support my foot well around the ankle area, and I bought a size larger than I usually wear so that my toe doesn’t hit the front of the shoe when running. (This is important, given that my sister in high school had an unfortunate incident involving sneakers that weren't large enough and toenails falling off.) And these shoes aren't ugly, per se, but they are a little wider and generally larger than I would want for regular weekend wear.

But the attractive sneakers are much more fun. Like most people these days, I went straight for the Pumas. And I found really good looking shoes. I couldn’t find a picture with accurate colors, but the Puma Future Cat Lo(w) sneakers are very attractive and will go with jeans, yoga pants, and probably khakis.

I left the store having paid $162, which included the two pairs of sneakers and six pair of socks.

The Nikes are made to go with the iPod sport kit. I was wondering (Alissa), does the iPod sport kit only work with the nano, as the website suggests? Or could I use my ancient iPod mini?