If the Shoe Fits

Over the weekend, we went to an “open-house” at a running/bike store out of our local area. To be polite, I thought I would buy a pair of running shoes, since I like to wear relatively new ones in my races, so I would have time to break them in before Boston in April.


But there wasn’t any kind of discount on the Mizuno Wave Riders that I have worn for 11 of my 12 marathons. Plus, I sort of felt like I was cheating on my local running store, “Running For Kicks” in Palos Heights. They were the first ones to point me to Mizunos, and have offered discounts to our running club (The Park Forest Running and Pancake Club).

The next day, my running partner, John, stopped at the house and mentioned that there was a big sale at Running for Kicks. I had seen emails about it, but I had dismissed it because I was going to have a busy weekend, but it turned out my Sunday had just enough free time left to make it to the store before they closed at 5 pm.

I grabbed a couple pairs of old shoes (of the 5-6 I have) to donate to RFK’s ongoing collection for “Share Our Soles”. As soon as I walked in the door, I felt like the prodigal son. Yes, I had strayed and flirted with the glitzy national chain, but there was friendly Mel Diab, greeting me across the busy store, greeting me like a cousin at a family reunion. As I handed him my old shoes and started to say I needed a new pair, he put commerce aside to tell me how impressed he was at my wife’s accomplishments (and my support for her) in running and doing triathlons in spite of her arthritis. If there is one way to get on my good side, it’s being complimentary of my wife or children. It was another 5 minutes before we finally got around to getting me new shoes. We talked about both running the Boston Marathon again this year, and traded cell phone numbers to plan to meet for dinner in Boston. We talked about Mel running the Fox Valley Marathon that Gil and I had qualified in, and I told him I was proud that another local marathon had taken root in the Chicago area, and that he set the bar with the First Midwest Bank Half-Marathon, and that was becoming the most popular distance.

There was a great price on last year’s model of Mizuno Wave Riders, but he was sold out in my size. Mel brought out the Wave Rider 15 Anniversary Edition. I knew the price would be higher than the old model, but they felt really light. As Mel was lacing up the shoes, we talked about our long runs on the weekend, and he encouraged me to join the group in downtown Palos Park on Saturdays. I talked about who would run at my pace, and when he mentioned a slow long run pace, I explained to him the F.I.R.S.T program where with only 3 running days a week, there were 20 milers that peaked at only 15 and 30 seconds slower than marathon pace, plus there are FIVE 20-milers in the 16 week program. Mel seemed intrigued, and said that after 45 years of running, he needed to have more breaks. He asked me to write down information at the program.

So, as I paid for my shoes and a handful of Gu Energy gels, I wrote down the website (www.furman.edu/first) and book title (“Run Less, Run Faster”) – giving advice to a local running legend who has hosted elite marathoners like Meb Kezfleghi at his races and is recognized as a top independent running store/ in the country.
Now, either I have earned my stripes in the running community to have Mel’s respect, or he is an awesome salesman, because he got me to walk out of there with more shoe than I wanted to spend for, or its’ some combination of both.