"I can't jog anymore." 

I'm sick of saying this.
I don't want to say it anymore.
I WANT to jog. For most of my life jogging has been my escape—my time to think and process and dream. As much as I enjoy it, walking just doesn't provide me the same joy. My excuse is my toes. I'd have to look it up, but I think 2011-ish, I had toe surgery. I finally chose surgery after three or so years of increasing pain that lingered longer and longer after my daily runs. Way back in 1993, I had a tumor and all of my right adductor muscles removed. I learned from the surgeon that my toes on that side have tried to adjust to an altered gait resulting from this first surgery. This is something I would have never guessed, but it makes sense right? You remove a whole group of muscles, so your leg isn't the same and your balance is off. Your body compensates beautifully, but your bones take the brunt. I'm super not complaining, because my awesome toes have served me so well for all of these years of jogging. And the toe surgery has helped some for sure, but I still have plenty of discomfort and to get to the point of this whole post, I've been trying for years to find a more comfortable "old lady" running shoe. About 2 weeks ago I sat down at my computer and Googled, "super padded running shoes with a big toe box" and was pleasantly surprised with the results. I ended up reading LOTS of information and reviews. I was ecstatic that there were shoes I hadn't yet heard of that might support my feet and alleviate enough of my toe pain that I could try jogging again. 

Last week I ordered two pairs of shoes on Amazon. Have you ever done that? With Prime free shipping and easy returns it's totally the way to go! I was able to wear both pairs around my house and I finally decided on this one. I continued to wear those shoes until I decided that I needed a bit more room in front. I ended up returning both pairs and reordering my choice a half size bigger—and getting it in 2 days.

Go Amazon!

I chose the Altra Women's Paradigm 2 primarily because of the roomy toe box. 
The Hoka One One Women's Vanquish 2 was super cushiony, so I hope I made the right choice. 

We'll see. 
I'm in Hawaii for a week, and one of my goals is to take my new shoes out on the road.