At times I feel very fortunate that I am so tough on my sports equipment. It affords me the opportunity to try out different shoes and equipment. At other times, like in my hockey game last night when I got body slammed to the ice by a moose and I land on my elbow that is not covered because the elastic in my elbow pad fails to keep them secured any where close to that joint, being tough on equipment definitely stinks.
After last year's dislocated ankle, my shoe rotation actually got way out of order and I found myself wearing holes in the outsoles of two pairs of Adidas Barricades roughly around the same time and scrambling to find a pair to replace them as I packaged them to go to the Adidas Barricade Outsole Guarantee's return center. I usually buy my tennis shoes online. Part of that is the convenience of shopping at all times of the night in my pajama's and part of it is I love to use Adidas' Customization website to put together never-before-seen color combinations. Ordering customized Barricades is a three-week process that include the highs of anticipation as I stare at the screen of my newly created shoe to the lows of ambivalence two weeks later when I've all but forgotten about the shoes to the frustration of coming home in the evening to see that "MISSED YOU" tag from the delivery company and knowing that I will have to wait another day or two to receive my shoes.
Time was of the essence as I was about to embark upon my summer season having to go to the store and buy whatever stock shoe was available. I settled on a couple of pair of women's Nike Air Max Cage shoes, a pale blue pair accented with navy and a black and white pair with a splash of hot pink that reminded me of Good and Plenty candy. I used to wear Nikes a long time ago, but as most of you can commiserate, I hate when they change the design of a perfectly good shoe from one year to the next. All of a sudden a few years ago, Nikes became a comfortable fit to being incredibly very hard on my feet. Nike's tennis shoes' recent designs seem to narrow in places my foot doesn't naturally narrow. So, I switched to Adidas Barricades and have been wearing them ever since. I liked that they were a heavier shoe and felt steadier than a lot of other tennis shoes. They also came in cool colors and I could also customize them to any color I liked.
There was an All-American red, white, navy and metallic silver pair...
There was a navy, yellow with purple stripes and purple laces...
There was the Float Like a Bumblebee yellow and black pair...
My favorite was an orange pair with neon yellow strings and stripes that reminded me of summer...
And there were others. That Ode to Blue; navy, royal and North Carolina blue. The pink, black, silver and rose ones.
But all good things must come to an end and my relationship with all of those pairs ended with huge holes in the outsoles. I'd done some quick research online and found many reviewers who claimed these particular generation of Air Max Cages did not cause the foot problems like plantar fasciitis that I am prone to due to my slightly flat feet. I always replace shoes' original insoles with insoles by Sof Sole anyway, so I was mostly worried about the fit. In the store, the shoes felt great. The toe box was a little wider than I remembered and the shoe didn't cut off my circulation near the instep. I bought the two pair and went on my way.
At first, the insoles didn't feel like they fit right in the shoe, so I spent one morning practicing in the shoes while using the original insoles. The blisters that appeared immediately on my feet felt worse than walking barefoot across hot coals. The rest of that day, all I did was ice the bottoms of my feet. I found a pair of insoles that fit better and have been wearing the shoes all summer but I still developed a sore fascia on my right foot that requires me to tape before playing. Nike also has a 6-month Outsole Guarantee. I've heard from tennis friends that Nike can be much more discriminate in accepting and replacing shoes that are submitted for their warranty. Three months before I hit the six month mark, the outsoles of both pair of shoes, which I rotate frequently, were almost completely bald with excess wear on the heels.
I probably won't be buying another pair of Nike's anytime soon, but the Air Max Cages continue to draw my eye. There were no colors for the fall to compliment their fall clothes collections and I expect their will be more colors some time after the new year. For those who have the feet to fit these shoes, they certainly look good. And if you look good, you must play good, right?
Stay tuned,
KS
