I said yes to the…shoes
With a month and a half to go until my big day, I knew I had to go in for a fitting.
Everything had to be perfect. The fit had to be just right, the color scheme had to match, but comfort is essential because you don’t want to deal with pain on top of your already frayed nerves on your big day.
I entered the store, my heart and my mind racing, unsure of what I wanted. Would I find what I was looking for? Would the store associate judge me based on my taste, based on the way I looked when I moved around? I was almost overwhelmed by the amount of options that lay before me, the potential ramifications of this very decision, the fear of making the wrong choice almost outweighing my excitement for my big day to finally arrive.
But then, at long last, I said yes…to the shoes.

I’ve been single for eight years now and don’t have any designs on getting married anytime soon, so getting fitted for the shoes that I will be running my first marathon in is about as close to picking out wedding finery as I’m going to get in the near future.
As for the actual fitting process, it was nowhere near as involved as actually getting measured for a tux. I went to a shoe store — Fleet Feet Sports in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood, which I highly recommend for the record — an associate watched me walk and then run around the store briefly to get a feel for my running and walking form, went in the back and picked out three pairs that she thought would be the best fit.
Turns out I probably should’ve gotten fitted for running shoes when this whole marathon training process got started. I had been wearing shoes that are the exact right size, but apparently with running shoes you’re supposed to buy a pair that’s a half size to a size bigger because your feet swell when you run. This might be why I’ve lost two entire toenails and halves of two others during training, because my current pair of shoes was too tight.
Regardless, the whole fitting process took about 15 minutes total, and in the end I went with a pair of Saucony Glide 10s. Part of it was comfort, part of it has to do with the fact that I’ve been training in Sauconys for the past seven months and since they’ve served me well, I’m reluctant to change brands now.
The other part of it was the aforementioned color scheme. The shoes, though it may not look like it in the picture above, are red, white and blue which, given the fact that I’m going to be running the Chicago Marathon in a red shirt and Chicago flag shorts, means they’ll compliment my outfit well.
As I type that paragraph out, I’m realizing that I don’t ever put that much thought into coordinating my daily outfits. But hey, you only get to run your first marathon once, right?
41 days to go…
To learn more about Open Heart Magic, which has more than 120 volunteers that go around to Chicago hospitals and teach kids how to do magic tricks and is the charity that I’m running the Chicago Marathon for, please click here and consider donating.
