New shoes

My knees always let me know when it is time for a new pair of running shoes. I also track how many miles I do in each pair and I know that as they approach the 500 mile mark, they are nearing the end of their days.

Old shoes; new shoes

The poor old things at the back have done 464.8 miles now and carried me to a PB at Cardiff Half Marathon last year. They're supremely comfortable - admittedly a bit smelly now and tread bare - and they've taken my feet through mud, snow, ice, rain and flood.

Together we have seen the seasons change four times, we've chased a baby bunny, watched somersaulting red kites, soaring buzzards and sly foxes. We've seen the sun rise and set. We've seen rainbows. We've avoided stepping on toads and slugs, we've seen little voles scuttle out of the way and we've heard the first cuckoo together.

We've dodged cars and lorries, jumped puddles, skidded on gravel and accidentally squelched into a smelly ditch. We've trodden in cow and horse poo, tripped over rocks and stepped carefully over cattle grids. We've jogged slowly, run flat out and charged along, high on endorphins feeling like a train.

All that at a cost of 13p per mile.

Now it's time to let them go. A new pair of ASICS Cumulus have arrived, this time in a sprightly turquoise. I've already been out for a four mile run in them and boy, these guys are fast.

More adventures await.