These shoes are made for walking

I decided that it was time to treat myself to a new pair of walking shoes. The last pair of exercise shoes I bought were great (and I paid less than $10 for them), but they didn’t give me the support I needed so they have been relegated to my gardening shoes. I asked around and had Nike shoes recommended to me by a few friends, so yesterday I popped into Nike Platinum St Lukes.

Almost every other time I’ve walked into a sportswear store I’ve either been ignored or treated very rudely. I’m not take seriously because I’m fat (actual comment overheard, “Who is she kidding? Must be lost”) or because I’m female (just the other day I walked into an outdoors store to buy a new backpack. The two salespeople avoided eye contact and ignored me, instead going straight to assist my partner … who was not there to buy anything. Needless to say they didn’t get my money!). I’m sure you won’t be surprised when I tell you that I was a little bit nervous when I headed into the Nike store!

My nerves subsided when I met Jade. She was friendly and cheerful, and super helpful. We chatted about what I wanted the shoes for (mostly walking, with the occasional gym workout thrown in), and when I mentioned that pronation was an issue for me (my feet roll in a little when I walk) and I was getting orthotic inserts fitted soon, she steered me towards the Nike LunarGlide 6‘s. They are engineered to give you more stability while still being super comfortable, and they have a little more depth than some of the other shoes so will be roomy enough to fit the orthotic inserts when I get them.

I initially wanted all black shoes so that I could wear them to events and not have them be so … loud … but the style I liked didn’t have an all black option (although black, silver and white was available) so I thought I would try on some other ones. It might sounds silly, but colour is really important to me when choosing a sports shoe. Will I be able to wear it when I’m not exercising? Does it go with the rest of my wardrobe? Is it a colour I like? Will they motivate me to lace them up and go for a walk?

I tried on the blue and black pair, but I wasn’t really feeling it. I’m not much of a bright blue fan, so I decided to flag the dark colours and try the bright ones. I considered a pair that was fuschia, pink and black, but there weren’t any on hand for me to try in and I really wanted to make sure I loved them before I committed to purchasing them.

The ones I ended up falling for were a bright purple pair of Nike LunarGlide 6 Flash shoes – something in the engineering of the foam repels water to help keep your feet dry while still providing support and ventilation and keeping it lightweight. Underneath the purple mesh outer is a reflective layer, meaning that I’m going to be more visible in low light. So basically, these sneakers will be absolutely perfect for the dark, rainy Auckland conditions that I will be walking in!

The bright purple makes me think of Motivate Me NZ, which will help to keep me motivated while I’m exercising. Also, my kid approved of the colour (it’s his favourite), so cool points for me. I even let him try them on, but while his feet are about the same size as mine, his are wider – meaning he won’t be able to swipe them anytime soon, phew!

I’m really looking forward to getting out for a walk soon and giving these babies a test run! Stay tuned for a proper review once I’ve had some time to wear them a bit.

Thanks so much to Jade at Nike Platinum St Lukes for making my shoe buying experience such a pleasant one! If you’re in the market for some new shoes, I highly recommend that you pop in store and pay her a visit.

FIT DETAILS: I am usually somewhere between an 8 and a 9, and my feet aren’t particularly wide. I found that a US9 fit best (that’s a UK 6.5 or an EU 40.5 for those of you playing along in Europe). I was very excited to find out that Nike does half sizes, so if you’re an inbetweenie then you are in luck!

SHOP IT: I got my Nike LunarGlide 6 Flash Women’s Running Shoes for $220.00 from Nike Platinum St Lukes. The Nike.com online store doesn’t ship to New Zealand or to freight forwarding companies, so finding your local Nike store (or authorised retailer) is your best bet to get hold of these puppies. There are 75 stockists in Auckland alone, so they should be easy to find.