Pair #7- Tennis Shoes

Shoes don't have to have high heels or say "Manolo" to make a girl feel good about herself.

Take these. I'm not much for working out. In fact there have been long stretches of time where the only sneakers I owned were slip-on Vans or Nike Dunks. Cute with jeans on a Sunday morning, but not practical for exercising.

I bought these running shoes about five years ago, in a fit of fitness-mania. A week after I bought them, the hysteria ended. And, for the next four years they sat in the closet, taken out only occasionally, during the brief moments of insanity when I joined a gym for a month or tried to jog. But about a year ago, perhaps a little less, that all changed.

It started with tennis. RC and I noticed that the courts down under the Williamsburg bridge were pretty nice, and empty on weekday mornings. I hadn't played in years, but then again, I must have some sort of muscle memory from sleepaway camp or something, because my strokes weren't so bad. In fact, I wasn't so bad, and it was really fun. The thing was, I had no stamina.

And then, something else. I am going to be really honest right now. My best friend got engaged last Labor Day. And a group of us went to try on bridesmaids dresses together. It was supposed to be fun, but it wasn't. I felt flabby. For the first time, I was shy about taking my clothes off in front of my friends. I didn't like that feeling at all. It's not that my friends were judging me; they are not those kind of girls. It's that I was judging myself. And though I really didn't want to face it, I knew there was only really one thing to do. Get a routine.

This led to elliptical workouts and track sojourns (turns out there's a nice one of those near our apartment too.) Now I am a full fledged excercise lover. Ok, liker. Ok, tolerator. These shoes took me from one activity to the next, with little complaint.

I don't think I've lost much weight, but I definitely feel better about my physical self. I'm leaner. And I have these shoes to thank. I've recently retired them, for a newer model, which is why they look so shocked to be outside. But they deserve their moment in the sun.