Day 131/132 – 81.1 km (total – 3057.1 km)

Approximately 2500 km in these shoes.

Have you ever had to say goodbye to someone you love a lot? Well, Saturday I had to do that. Ok, well it wasn’t exactly someone… more like something. But I’d put up a good argument that it was equally hard to say goodbye.

We tried for months in advance to get a shoe sponsorship. I was picky though… I’ve run in the same brand for 17 years. We couldn’t get them to bite and so I started the run in Newfoundland with 2 pairs of shoes. One pair I had already been running in for a year and the other pair was new. Throughout the winter, the shoes would obviously get wet and so I would usually switch them up daily. But slowly, I fell in love with the pair pictured above. It’s not to say that we didn’t have our rough patches – we did. But our bond became close and after 2500 kilometres in this particular pair, there is a sense of attachment that I trust you’d understand.

This particular pair have been falling apart for awhile. It was only a matter of days before my big toe would expose itself through the gaping hole on my left shoe. Over the past month and a half, I have been able to run some good distance. Through Quebec, I was averaging 45 km. Those shoes had been through the good, the bad and the ugly with me. When I ran last Thursday, my right calf tightened up to the point where it was difficult to continue. I didn’t want to blame the shoes, but it seemed like it might be time to switch them up. So on Saturday, I said goodbye. Forgive me for my emotions, but I have been with this pair of shoes for over 2500 km. That is commitment.

People often ask how many running shoes I’ll go through on this trek across the country. I ask them if they have 20 minutes for my answer. The running shoe business is just that – a business. At the end of the day, they care about how many shoes they sell and the bottom line is certainly the dollar. This notion that running shoes are supposed to be switched up every 500 km gets me a bit heated. Anyway, I digress…

My new pair is treating me well so far… but I will not soon forget the shoes that took me through 4 provinces and into my 5th. Shoes that took me a third of the distance across this great country. Shoes that heard my shouts of joy on the TCH and my cries of pain. I say goodbye with a deep appreciation of the love you showed me! Enjoy your rest

My alternate pair through Newfoundland. Approximately 500 km in these shoes.

My newest shiny pair. Approximately 80 km in these shoes.