I recently looked at my running shoe rotation in the mirror and I didn’t like what I saw. I realized I had a shoe problem. No, I’m not talking about the size of my running shoe collection. A running shoe addiction is a good problem to have. Nor was I talking about the brands — many companies don’t even offer size 15 shoes. The issue was I didn’t see any shoe color represented beyond black and white — I was colorblind.
Ebony and ivory
Although some of my favorite things are white — sheep, cauliflower, snow, R.E.M. — I didn’t own any white running shoes. No light shades or pastels. No feminine colors like pink, purple, or aqua blue. I realized I had become boring. Basic. Uninspiring. Predictable. My shoe rotation was orbiting with only black and white pairs. I was hiding in the dark shadows and afraid of seeing the light from shoes with bright red, yellow, orange, and every other color in the spectrum.
So, I pulled myself up by the shoestrings and got educated. Sitting in front of a projector screen with my eyes forcibly held open (A Clockwork Orange style), I watched video reviews of bright running shoes and stared quite intently at various photos of white running shoes. I consumed endless reruns of Reading Rainbow, The Wiggles, and Teletubbies despite not having any kids (forgot how creepy the Sun Baby is). Additionally, I read such acclaimed books as The Color Purple, The Green Mile, Yellowface, and Fifty Shades of Grey. Truthfully, Fifty Shades of Grey was the only one I could finish. Regardless, it was a complete waste of time — the books had nothing to do with the color in their titles.
I sought out any rainbow I could find in nature. Couldn’t find any, so I made my own rainbow using light and a prism. I studied and memorized the color wheel like it was the periodic table. I even used Wite-Out to turn a black shoe white.
Yet, nothing I did could make me change my outdated ways. I was living in the past and was unwilling to introduce any color to my running shoe rotation. Perhaps it’s because bright shoes attract the most attention — not a good match for my small ego. Or maybe because all-white shoes get the most noticeably filthy from dirt, grass, and pavement stains. What’s more, white shoes make my pale skin look even lighter. There’s a reason I wear black socks.
Running shoe color is just a shade
But then one night I had a dream. I was running in all-white shoes and I was having the greatest run of my life. I awoke the next morning and had an epiphany: White shoes are my canvas and roads and trails are my paint brushes. The more “colorful” the white shoes become, the better runner I am.
“Now I’m jumping in puddles, running through grass, stepping in dog poop, and tripping on the rocks and roots of trails without a care in the world. I’m a changed man.”
I immediately went online and searched for the best looking white running shoes. I laid eyes upon the White | Infrared colorway of the newly released Saucony Kinvara Pro. Suddenly, I felt something inside me come alive. A predominantly white shoe, the pair boasted streaks of the eye-catching color combo of black and red. An immediate rush of colors filled my eyes and I started to see the world through a Technicolor lens.
So now I’m jumping in puddles, running through grass, stepping in dog poop, and tripping on the rocks and roots of trails without a care in the world. I’m a changed man. My eyes have been opened to the color combinations I didn’t know were visually possible. And even if I revert to my old ways of thinking, I can always turn the white shoe black with enough wear and tear from running.
Now the only black-and-white color combo I want in my life is the icing on top of that not-so-creatively named cookie. As far as bright-colored shoes, it may take me a while to come around on those. That is, until the next highly touted, brand-new pair of running shoes is released in only bright colorways. Like Chris Rock famously said, a man is only as faithful as his options. He had to be referring to running shoe colorways, right?
