Babbling (about) Brooks

I don't have a lot of brand loyalty. I have brand convenience. Most often I use a brand not because I'm so devoted to it, but more because it's convenient to use something until it decides not to work any longer. I use the laundry detergent, eat the bread, perfume my armpits, whatever, with the product I use simply because I'm of the effective-until-proven-ineffective school of consumption. I hate shopping and will take the path of least resistance, using the same thing over and over, in the grip of apathy-inertia, until someone or something gives me a reason to stop.

For years, I wore Nike running shoes. I wasn't a dedicated runner and the shoes served me well enough, and they still had some residual cool factor leftover from childhood, perhaps. Then I got into running a little more and my first race at a longer distance promptly resulted in shin splints. I hobbled to the doctor who prescribed orthotics (ugh) and gave me a list of shoes that are better for pronators, of which I apparently am one.

Not really knowing anything about anything, I chose one off the list pretty much at random: Brooks Addictions. I was fitted for a pair (a bit like a horse being shod, but that's a story for another time) and ran in them, and eventually the shin splints went away. In the 10 years since, I have had only occasional pinches despite running a lot more now than I did then.

I have discovered since that I have a LOT of Brooks stuff: shirts, tights, cap, etc. I love their stuff. They last forever, do exactly what they're meant to do (they are the wizards of wick, the sultans of sweat-nullification, their tights don't turn into sags, etc.), and aren't exceptionally girly (no teddy bears or pastel wads of flowers, please, I am a grown up). But it started with the shoes and the fact that the shoes really did help me recover from an injury and stay uninjured.

Now let's talk loyalty. Brooks has got me nailed. I am well into their target market: a mature woman who wants to be fit, is environmentally conscious and reasonably socially aware. Brooks understands all of that and respects it and is right there with me (and well ahead of me, truth be told).

But what Brooks really gets is what running means to me: it's a part of my identity that I'm not willing to let just anyone mess with. I was in grade school when the ink was still fresh on Title 9, and we actually had "men's basketball" and "girls' volleyball." Gah! Needless to say, female athletes weren't particularly encouraged. Brooks gets that, and is very good at saying, "Yes. Yes, you can. Yes, you too" to women like me. I put on their tights and shirt and hat and I feel strong and fleet and fast, despite my mid-pack pace.

Their products may be no better than the cheaper stuff I could buy at Big5 (though I doubt it), but I will seek out Brooks products, and I feel better buying that new shirt knowing it's from Brooks. I take better care of the stuff I buy from them and recommend their products to others.

Yeah. They got me.