Right. Before anything else — sizing. I need you to hear this now, at the beginning, while there is still time to do something about it. This shoe runs slightly short. If you are between sizes, or if you like room at the front, go up. Everyone says so. I have checked more than once. Please do not skim past this paragraph and then message me in three weeks.
Now that we are safe, the shoe. Zoom Air units under both the heel and the forefoot, so there is something absorbing the landing at either end rather than only underneath your heel and nothing at the front where you actually push off.
A TPU plate through the middle for stability, which is the piece that stops the sole twisting when you plant and turn — and planting and turning is when things go wrong, that is the moment, that is always the moment. The upper is layered breathable mesh with a plush tongue and a U-shaped entry, updated for better durability without losing the light feel.
Underneath is a one-piece durable rubber outsole for all court surfaces, with extra rubber and abrasion features built into the high-wear areas. One piece. No joins to come apart. Twelve point six ounces in a size 8.5, snug medium width, and it does want some breaking in — so please do not take a brand new pair to a tournament, I am begging you.
I find that genuinely reassuring.
Muş is fine. The Alaeddin Bey Mosque has nine bays under small domes and a cylindrical minaret in coloured stone, and it has been standing there perfectly happily for a very long time without any input from me. The Hacı Şeref Mosque sits low and Ottoman in the old streets below the slope, and low is good, low is stable, I have no notes.
Muş is absolutely fine and I have checked.
You will wear these everywhere from a hard court in the heat to a walk up through the town, and while you are here — the ruined walls of Muş Castle are on the hill above, and I would like everyone to take the path and not the shortcut. Then the Murat Bridge: 143 metres of Seljuk stonework, still carrying traffic, after all these centuries. Still carrying traffic.
I know how that sounds. It has held every single day since it was built, which is a better record than anything either of us owns, and I am choosing to find that comforting.
"It runs short. Go up. Please read this sentence now rather than in three weeks."
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