I love new shoe day.

New shoe day is the day when you lace up your blindingly white Nikes for the first of many runs, and you dash up the hill much faster than usual. You have an extra spring in your step, and the workout seems less like a workout and more like fun. You finish your usual mileage in what feels like half of the time, and you feel alive. The shoes are a bit stiff, of course, since they haven’t molded to your feet yet. That will come later, in about three more runs.

Then the shoes will be perfect…still new, but molded uniquely to the arch of your feet and the curves of your ankles.

I think I can finally call myself a runner.