It's gotta be the shoes!

“Is it the long shorts? Is it the short sock? It’s gotta be the shoes Money!”
Back in the 90’s these words rang between most NBA games promoting Nike’s Air Jordan shoe line.
As long as we’ve covered our feet shoe tech companies have been pushing the next big thing. More cushion, inflatable soles, blinking lights. These bells and whistles promise to increase performance and reduce discomfort.
CrossFit and these types of workouts have been around a lot longer than these targeted product offerings. Luckily our needs are much more straightforward, Hard and Flat.
All we need is simple, solid contact with the ground and little or no energy sucking material to defuse
our efforts of force production.
There are many many brands and types of ‘CrossFit’ shoes to choose from such as Reebok Nano’s, Inov8’s F-lite series, Nike Metcon. These are all fine shoes (I’ve owned more than one pair of each over the years) but you simply don’t have to drop $150 on a pair of workout shoes.
Here are some, but not all, alternatives for a good workout shoe at a decent price:
Converse’s old school ‘Chuck Taylor All Stars’. These are the epitome of low tech high function. Until recently we had an outlet in town that you could buy a pair for short bucks.
New Balance Minimus. You get the all the benefits of New Balance’s Vibram Sole tech without the silly toeshoe look. 😉 And if you time it right, you can get a deal over at their outlet at 5 South Union St Lawrence.
Indoor soccer shoes also fit all the prerequisites if you have a pair kicking around.
Finally, my longtime favorite, skateboard shoes. They are hard, flat and durable as hell. Check out Etnies.com, they almost always have several models on sale.
So dig around in the back of your closet and see what’s hiding back there. You might find something useful.