The Right Kind of Shoes

I twice made the mistake of buying athletic shoes online and I’ve learned my lesson well the last time. Well, at least I’m hoping I won’t get swayed on buying something because it looked good enough in pictures and it looked to fit on paper. I’ve been meaning to go back to the gym for several months but was hindered by the fact that I only have badminton shoes. In an attempt to find a better deal online, hopefully better than what I’ll get in stores, I searched for new discount shoes on this online auction site I frequent. I found something that looked cute enough, with a price that seemed more than reasonable; I debated with myself for a while, noticing almost at the last minute that the description says “walking shoes”, when what I’m searching for are “training shoes”.  So the last few minutes of the auction I spent researching the differences between walking, running, and cross-training shoes. In the end, I decided that the walking shoes will do for my intended purpose.  I waited until the last few seconds of the auction before bidding and won the item. When it was finally delivered, I realized immediately how wrong I was. Just judging by the contours and and the material of the shoes, I knew I can’t use them at the gym. My sister was looking at me questioningly when I explained that that pair is not fit for gym use; she probably thinks that anything that looks athletic enough should be OK. Not for lack of trying, I used them during my first visit and I was beating myself up while walking in the treadmill because I know I can’t go faster than brisk walking with those shoes on without tripping. It’s just too unflexible and heavy. I had no choice but to find another pair at the mall, an Adidas shoes, that thankfully was on sale for almost 30% off. Well, the moral of this story is, the type of shoes matter. Not because it’s called a rubber shoes means it can be used for any athletic endeavor.