Tomorrow is the first day of Spring. That means it’s time to plant the garden, renew and refresh, religious and cultural ceremonies and . . . it’s time to get serious about training for some runs, walks, cycling, whatever. Get outside and let the sun shine on your body.

It might also be time to buy the new running kicks. For me, that’s a company called Altra Running and I just bought a new trail runner. Running on trails is something I’d like to incorporate to mix it up some this summer.

This blog entry is an unpaid shameless plug for this shoe company – because these are finally “my” shoes. If your knees hurt, you might give them a try before you hang it up.

In my 30s, my knees started hurting when I ran. It was unacceptable to me that I just had quit forever, so I embarked on a journey to figure it out.

For me, it seemed counter-intuitive at first: the more “cushion” a shoe has, the more my knees hurt and at times those pains extend to the shins.

So I went totally minimalist and did my first full marathon in the Vibran 5 finger toe shoes that are pictured at the very bottom of the page.

Remember those crazy things? I got the marathon done but I needed a little more padding in a long term solution.

As I have settled into the back end of my 40s, I’ve identified 3 needs in a running shoe if I’m going to keep this up for the next 30 years (and I olan to do just that):

• Wide toe box (roomy non-restrictive)

• Zero drop

• Light weight material (why make it harder?)

The “zero drop” is explained well in this article but it basically means flat without the big arch support. Seems to support your natural foot strike better, in my opinion.

Bottom line, when I where these, my knees don’t hurt. When I try a shoe with the slightest height in the heel, my knees hurt. It’s not rocket science.

I welcome any shoe and/or gear reviews. Anything to keep us all moving.