Nü shüz

The greatest pair of running shoes I've ever owned was a pair of blue Adidas Response trail runners. Man, I loved 'em. Dogs would run away from me when they saw me coming in my Responses: that's how much of a bad-ass I was in them. Sadly, inevitably, like all running shoes, they reached a point where it just wasn't healthy to wear them jogging anymore. I did what I normally do in that situation - put in some insoles to make them last a little longer - but even then, I knew the Days of the Response were numbered. (Relatively: I used to wear them in the hospital on my overnight call, back when I had to do overnight call. And I still wear them when I bike to work.)
So I ended up getting a pair of New Balance shoes a while back. I'm not totally dedicated to Adidas, if something else looks good, though there are certain brands I'll never wear. (I'm talking about you, Nike! You hear me? You suck! Lick my ass!) But as my chicken legs get older, they're also getting a little more particular, and the NB's were not *quite* what they were craving. I needed Adidas.
I checked out zappos.com at the excellent suggestion of my friend Mary Beth, who said they might have the same model I was so attached to ("plus free shipping both ways, if you don't like them!"). Alas, they did not have the Response, or at least anything called the Response that looked like my old shoes. So a couple weeks ago, I trekked out to the Adidas outlet in Johnson Creek, WI, a little less than halfway to Milwaukee, and pulled the trigger on some sweet babies that looked like a million bucks (but were actually a deal) and felt like little masseuses on my feet. (It's the newer-looking one on the left; the other shoe is one of my beloved Responses.) They're called "Running Trail," which is definitely not as catchy or intimidating as "Response," but that's about the only drawback.
See, my problem now is that I run too fast. I've literally been feeling so great in these shoes that I've been overstriding, and I strained my hamstring again as a result. Damn! Think you could ever do that, Nike? Dream on, losers, dream on ...