I was cleaning out one of the rooms in our upstairs over the weekend.  This room is actually a dedicated running room in our household.  The shoes, the drying racks, the pictures, finishers medals, the gear, all that stuff.  On the back of my door I have one of those shoe organizers that hangs from the door.  I realized the damn thing is full of shoes that I currently use for training.  So despite the name of this site, I have chosen to buy myself at least 10 different styles of shoes for my current quiver.

Now thinking back, this number was likely around six or seven for awhile.  But ten seems high to me.  Each shoe has its purpose though.  Everything from long, slow runs on Rock Island to singletrack at Platte River or Wilderness to ripping 1000s at Pioneers to splashing through creeks at Living History, I literally use all of them on a fairly regular basis.

But for a sport that I, and many others, claim is “simple”. . . Well that seems to be less and less true.  Despite this wave of minimalism in running, there is more gear available than ever.  Go to your local trail head or running route someday and take a look around.  How much money have people put into stuff?  I am all about being as prepared for the elements as possible.  Despite my desire to be as basic as possible, I am obviously guilty of gear/shoe/technical tee whoring.  I can’t help it. Maybe as I grow older and devote my income to other things.  But I know I use this stuff and everyone has their “thing” so why shouldn’t I enjoy being not simple on some occasions?