Saying goodbye to an old friend....or pair of friends, actually

Today's 6 mile recovery run marked my last run in my copper and black colored Nimbus 8s. At exactly 500 miles, they are being retired to the everyday shoe category (in fact, I wore them to work today to get them used to their new role). It's kind of like putting a retired racehorse out to pasture. This pair of shoes had a good run (pun intended). Here's a quick breakdown of their accomplishments (from what I remember):

• In April of 2007, they carried me to my current 10K PR.
• In May of 2007, they carried me to my current marathon PR.
• In June of 2007, they carried me to my first every victory (in a 4 mile race....against 6 other people).
• In July of 2007, they carried me through the heat at the Missoula Marathon. It wasn't a PR, but is was a course record for me. It was also the inaugural race, so that's not really saying anything, but still. They were there.
• After that, they were retired from racing and put into regular rotation on my daily training runs. For much of that time, they served as my designated long run shoe, and all parts of them that were once white are now forever dirt-stained as a result of running miles and miles of gravel roads.

Along with all the sweat, dirt, blood, funky smells and myriad of bacteria in them, they are also full of memories. These good ole copper Nimbuses (Nimbusi??) will not soon be forgotten. If they were already copper, I'd get them bronzed (yes, that is a horribly lame joke....sorry). RIRP (Rest In Running Peace), Nimbus 8s.