Girl on a mission

The things girls will do for a good deal on great shoes.
Leaving for work this morning, at around 7:15, I drove past the old Army and Navy shop on Columbia street. It was another 45 minutes before the shop opened, but there were already 100 women, at least, standing in the pouring rain, peering through the store’s windows. I shook my head and smiled. I understood. We’re girls – we do crazy things for shoes.
And today was the first day of the Army and Navy’s annual “legendary” shoe sale. This sale is not your ordinary shoe sale, oh no, it’s chock-a-block full of shoes; one whole floor dedicated to women’s shoes alone. Heels, flats, sneakers, sandals, gladiators, open-toed, closed toed, printed, canvas, leather, classic, runway … oh man, it’s enough to make a girl’s eyes pop!
But I didn’t stop. Nope. I had to get to work. I had my priorities.
Mahaahaha!
On the way home, the only thing on this girl’s mind was shoes. But, seeing as how I didn’t leave work until after 5, and how I wouldn’t get home until close to 6:30, how on earth was I going to manage a run, and get me some shoe love?
Heheheheeee!
Do both, that’s how.
As soon as I got home I informed Mario that we were having a late dinner; I had to go for a run. Didn’t really seem out of the ordinary 😉 I put my running gear on, left the Garmin at home as there just wasn’t enough time for it to track the satellites, laced up my running shoes, pocketed my debit card, and hit the boardwalk. I ran through the pink mounds of fallen cherry blossoms, past the kids playing on the old Expo submarine, past the Paddlewheeler’s Go-Canucks-Go sign (yes, we still have hope), past the world’s largest tin man, up and down the 85 plus stairs, past the abundance of wedding shops, and finally through the orange and black Army and Navy doors!
It was 7 p.m. by now, and I figured the store would be dying down – I was wrong. I could barely move. There were woman above me, below me, beside me, practically on top of me. And as claustrophobic as I can sometimes be, I was doing my best not to let it get to me. Focus. With beads of sweat dripping down my face, I headed to the rows of size 7.5 and started filling my outstretched arms full of shoe after shoe after shoe. I had black shoes, brown shoes, blue shoes, maroon shoes, heels, flats and boots. And then, all of a sudden, my eyes fell on top of a beautiful pair of olive green, vintage-style kitten heels that just had to be mine.

And what did I do after purchasing those perfect shoes? I cranked up my iPod, and to the beat of the Thriller blasting through my ears, I ran – shoes in hand. The women I passed gave me knowing smirks; the men took double takes; and the kids, a couple of them, asked their mommies “Why is she running with shoes in her hands?”
Oh dearies, you’ll understand one day. One day, indeed.

And guess what? The sale lasts for two weeks – with shelves replenished every day! Eeeeeeeeeeee!!!

THE RUN:

  • 6:45 p.m. BG before: 5.3 (granola bar, no bolus insulin)
  • Total distance (broken up into two parts): 3.42 km
  • 30 minutes shoe shopping
  • 5 minutes stretching
  • 7:45 p.m. BG after: 10.0

View Interactive Map on MapMyRun.com

6 thoughts on “Girl on a mission”

  1. Outstanding blog!! Pure fun!! Insightful by half!! Loved the photo silhouette!! Loved it, loved it!! I laffed and laffed, tickled to the bone … you ran all hot and sweaty, dripping, you say, into the Army and Navy store. I hope I never get in your way on a shoe run!! I do have ONE critical observation, but I want to hang onto my tes … I mean my manly pride!! 🙂

  2. Theresa-Anne Clarke Harter

    This John Henrys Daughter, and I just read your most recent blog entry. I thought it was fantastic! As a shoe loveing girl, I can totally relate. The shoes you picked were awesome! Totally cute.

  3. Only you could find a way to combine shopping and exercising. Just think of the shoes as arm weights…in fact, I think you are on to something…carrying your purchases evenly in each hand to build those arm muscles sounds like great exercise to me!

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