My brother has me inspired. He earned a Goofy medal last month by running the Walt Disney World half marathon and full marathon on back-to-back days.

Me? I have been on and off the treadmill since the start of the year (mostly off) and nothing longer than 5K. Today I decided I needed to buy some new shoes, commit to a few races this year and get back on the treadmill.

I’ve run in Nike shoes all my life and the red pair in the picture above are my all-time favorites. Light as air, they feel like I’m not even wearing shoes. But alas, they are starting to wear out and now have a few small tears. I stopped at the Running Room on Grand Avenue today and asked to try on the three lightest pairs they had from any manufacturer. The Mizuno Wave Rider 10s pictured on the left were the new winner.

I also wanted to get back to using the Nike+iPod setup, but hated the old Nike+ shoes I bought for that. The Running Room suggested I try the RunAway, by SwitchEasy. I bought one, but discovered my old receiver is dead. I’ll have to pick up a new one tomorrow at Target…