The Missing Shoe Saga

So if you're pbg, and you're leaving town for 10 days, and two days before you leave you realize that you've lost your running shoes, what do you do? If you answered "freak out", or "panic", then you know me pretty well :)

The shoes are old anyway so losing the shoes themselves wasn't that big of a deal, but they have my custom orthotics in them. I wouldn't mind running once or twice without them but ten days is a long time. I couldn't get new ones made before I left, since I was leaving town before my PT's office opened again. I didn't know if I could even find a suitable replacement pair of shoes, since the Hurricane 9 has been retired.

Friday morning when I didn't have them, I assumed I had left them at Greg's. So instead of running at lunchtime I'd just get them after work and run then. No biggie. Except when I got to Greg's.... no shoes! That's when I really started thinking and realized I probably left them at the gym Wednesday night. I wore them to the gym after my run, which I never do. I must have forgotten to pick them up on the way out after swimming.

Got to the gym and checked the lost and found... nada. I was very upset at this point. The next morning, Saturday, was the group bike ride. I headed back to the gym immediately after to check the locker room where I probably left them. I saw the masters swim coach, George, while I was there. He suggested a few more places to look and told me he'd call me if he heard anything. I looked in the locker room, all the open lockers, at the pool area, the back entrance desk... nothing. I called my coach and we talked about contingency plans- I'd try to run in new shoes with no orthotics, and possibly substitute some elliptical in case the running bothered my legs. I wasn't happy about it, but there wasn't much choice.

As I was pulling out of the parking lot, dejected, George called. He asked, "what kind of shoes were they again?" He had them!! I couldn't believe it. I said, "really??" so he said, "no, I'm just making this up to waste my time." Aw George, what a sweet guy. I raced back in there, grabbed the shoes, and gave him a huge, dirty, sweaty hug (I was still dressed in my bike clothes) because I knew that's exactly what he didn't want me to do :) He found them in the lost and found, in the Friday bin. They must have been turned in after I looked in there.

PHEW!! Crisis averted! I didn't realize how attached to my shoes I am until I couldn't find them. We've been through a lot together! When I thought they had been stolen, I felt so violated.

So that's the story of the missing shoes. And yes, I will be much more careful in the future!!