The Hunt Is Over

In my seemingly endless search for a pair of trail running shoes to replace the oh-so trusty, durable & mind bogglingly lightweight New Balance MR790Z3's I've finally been fortunate enough to pick up an equally light yet sturdy pair of kicks. After wearing the MR790's on numerous adventures spanning multiple continents, they have finally worked themselves into a less formidable role as simple 'around town' shoes (I think they had a hand in my issues as they don't seem to offer much in the way of necessary support for the knees). Having spent a couple weeks scouring Gumi's finest retail outlets only to be disappointed by either lack of selection, style or appropriate size, I rolled the dice & made a quick Sunday trip to Daegu in search of some replacements.

After mildly 'mastering' the Gumi bus routes after valiantly huffing it to the train station on foot a couple weeks ago, I was able to figure out the train schedules & get a ticket on the 6:10 south to Daegu. It's definitely nice to be able to spend 7,200 Won (just over $5) in transportation cost b/w the bus & train - certainly a big fan of low cost, quality public transportation!

Anyway, I knew my time was fairly limited, seeing as I needed to catch a train back in order to snag a bus from the train station before the stopped running for the night. Otherwise I'd be huffing it back to my neighborhood at midnight. Fortunately, I was able to gather a little intel before I headed out & discovered there were a multitude of shops & shoes stores right outside the Daegu train station (much like in Gumi), which meant it should be a quick 'in & out' trip.  Especially considering there was a HUGE department store literally in the train station & they had tons of great options but they closed at 8.30 so I'd be pushing it to check out all the other stores & get back before they closed if I couldn't find what I was looking for.

Inevitably it seemed, however,  my efforts may be again fruitless as I was striking out w/proper sizes, styles, etc. Then I moseyed into the New Balance store & nearly struck gold! They had a couple pairs I'd been eyeing and the price was much better than I'd seen anywhere else over here. Although I liked the NB shoes, I was really in search of the adidas Kanadia 3TR's - a great shoe, very lightweight & versatile but seemed to offer more support which would go a long way in helping the old knees feel young again on the various upcoming hikes I've got penciled in for the coming months. 

adidas Kanadia 3TR

I opted to keep searching for the Kanadia's as I'd found a pair in Gumi that were perfect except the size - no matter what country I'm in, if all you have is a 7, we're definitely not doing business! The frustration mounted as I was able to find plenty of the Kanadia's but they were mostly all the same style/color, which weren't what I needed. The ones I was looking for were extremely breathable - the material offered great airflow throughout the shoe - & would dry quickly but all anybody had was the crappy leather version. They weren't terrible but I knew they'd never work for what I was planning on.

Nearly three hours had passed & I was still empty handed. I had, however, met a few extraordinarily helpful Koreans who enjoyed the challenge of assisting 'the American.' As it seemed all might be lost on this excursion, I decided to wander back to the NB store for one last look & try on a couple of the pairs I'd seen. It was ridiculously busy earlier & I couldn't even manage to get my hands on the shoes to test the weight, let alone get any help on sizes/colors or trying a pair on.  Upon my return, the crowd had dissipated tremendously, allowing me to get some help, try on a few pairs & ponder the options.

I weighed the options b/w a couple of great, higher end trail running shoes, sat back, relaxing as I figured I'd finally found a quality replacement, even though I was bummed about striking out on the Kandias. I was still pretty excited about getting a good pair after being so close in Gumi, just the wrong size. As I was churning the details of the decision in my head, I caught myself checking out some of the other shoes on the display wall & found a terribly gaughty pair of hiking boots done only the way New Balance can do them, especially here in Korea. The guy who was helping me noticed me eye-balling the kicks & asked if I wanted to try them on....oh, sure, why not!

To my surprise, they were unbelievably comfortable, extremely light weight & offered plenty of support w/out being to restrictive in terms of necessary mobility. I took a while to tread around the store w/the boots on & w/each step, I felt more & more confident these ridiculous looking things might just be the perfect replacement. I had two options for color, though & neither one really excited me all that much.

The first was a do-do brown looking thing that probably would be alright but I've never been a big fan of turdy looking earth-tones, especially not when it comes to footwear & these definitely fell into that category. Something just didn't jive w/the color scheme but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. The second option was almost worse than the first but on a completely opposite end of the spectrum....brutally obnoxious yet delightfully vibrant blaze orange.

I had a serious decision to make, as of this point I'd gone all in on the boots over the shoes & it came down to choosing the lesser of two less than appealing colors.  The employees were giving the clerk who was helping me a healthy dose of ribbing as he attempted to make a truly concerted effort in communicating, best he could, in broken Korenglish (needless to say, my attempts weren't any better).

I pretty much got the gist of what he was saying & apparently he was picking up a little bit of what I was laying down because I had come to a decision & he was in agreement that it was a good one. To show his gratitude for my patronage & witty banter, he threw in a pair of NB socks as a gesture of appreciation, I think - or he really felt like I needed some new socks. Either way, the decision was made, the transaction was completed & the boots were feeling more & more perfect.

New Balance MO625HOB

I had the opportunity to wear them out when I went to Geumosan last weekend & they performed better than expected. They were definitely light weight & sturdy. Overall, I had no issues w/my knee whatsoever, which was a welcome relief and they were comfortable & breathed well all day.

I had done a little research after the purchase & apparently this striking shoe is only available (at least for the time being) in Korea. NB offers similar styles back in the states but I wasn't able to find this model....might have to pick up another pair before I head back stateside or if anyone absolutely wants a pair for themselves, let me know, I'll gladly grab some more.

With a triumphant feeling bubbling inside me & a definitive glow of confidence & conquest showing on my face, I opted to celebrate this festive little occasion the best way I knew how....I dove face first into a delightfully scrumptious Whopper w/Cheese! I even opted to wash it down w/a good old Coca-Cola (I rarely eat fast food & it takes a very special occurrence for me to suck down a soda - needless to say, I was geek-ed out on sugar & tossed & turned till about 4am).

If this great find weren't enough, upon getting my return ticket at the train station, I stumbled upon an American serviceman, who'd been stationed at Waegwon (about half way b/w Gumi & Daegu) since October. He was just kicking it outside the ladies room w/a couple cold ones waiting for his fiance to finish her business. I asked about the North Korea threat & he said that's pretty much all they do is drill & practice for the worst case scenario. Part of their training is ensuring the safety of the numerous American civilians scattered throughout the country....nice to know we're a top priority if things do get hairy over here.

Anyway, he mentioned he was from Illinois & she lived in South Carolina, somewhere in the Western part of the state, near the Georgia border. Winds up they were headed to the US Embassy to get married the next day, how cool is that!

I'm not sure if it was a sugar rush, the giddiness of the new kicks or simply an opportunity to speak real English to a true blue American (most everyone I've met are either Canadian, British or South African) but it might possibly have been the most exciting 15 minutes of the entire weekend!

She had come over to visit him for 10 days & was heading home in a couple days. They wound up being a cordially polite couple but I'm sure I acted like a lovestruck schoolgirl the whole time.  And because of this simple conversation I realized how deprived I've been not interacting w/people I have something in common with - in this case, simply speaking English.

Interesting the things we take for granted, huh?  Be well, people!