Never underestimate the power of new shoes.

My knees are hurting. The ITB is reminding me why it’s important to retire zapatos once they are worn enough on the outside that my feet start leaning outward, giving me the ol’ cowpoke gait. That time is now.

I can still feel yesterday’s run. I’ve got the creaky old guy saunter going, that familiar feeling of life with a pair of shoes that have overstayed their welcome, the party guest who doesn’t notice the blinking lights and hosts in their pajamas.

I grab the new shoes. They’re exactly the same as the old ones, only newer. My legs instantly feel the difference.

The ITBS vanishes. My knee pain is gone. Running is easy again, like the party guest who comes with a delightful cheese plate and refrains from karaoke.

I reflect through the run how I always seem to do this. Wait till shoes are a little too old because of sentimentality. Switch to new shoes. Delight in the amazing pain-free run. Repeat as necessary.

I finish up four miles, pleasantly tired. I walk inside, doing a mental checklist and reaffirming that the pain is gone. Amazing. Nothing feels better than that first run in a pair of new shoes.

I pull them off and realize they smell really bad. That seems a bit soon, even by my standards. Turning them over to survey the bottoms, my suspicions are confirmed. I had picked up the wrong pair from the pile. I was still running in the old shoes.

The moral: Never underestimate the power of new shoes. But they’re no match for the power of the old mind.

Running. It’s not in the shoes. It’s in the head.