Christmas gifts 4: best foot forward

I'm getting very fussy about trainers in my older age. Anything would do when I was a younger man, my feet were basically indestructible as far as I was concerned so I could put just about anything on. I'm less easy to please now; earlier in the year I bought a pair of MBTs - you know, the ones that are supposed to get you fitter while you're just walking - and ended up with a sore foot. Maybe at 46 I was due to get a bit footsore anyway.

But I've given up buying anything that doesn't come from a reputable brand any more. My current pair are Nikes, bought from an outlet store (I'm really not worried if people recognise them as last year's model). My guidelines are simple when buying: nothing designed specifically for a sport I'm not going to be playing because the supports will be different, and nothing that's going to make me look like a walking mid-life crisis.

This is why I'd consider a pair of K-Swiss Landcruisers (available in a number of different colours, the brown in the picture didn't seem to be in stock as I wrote this) as a good second pair. First, as you'll gather from the picture, there's no gaudy pattern or logo to make me look as if I'm an old bloke trying to get down with the kids. Paired with jeans they won't stick out at all - a hybrid desert boot and trainer, the style is admirably restrained.

Second I've had a pair of K-Swiss tennis shoes for playing that sport and know the manufacturer understands a bit about feet, so I won't end up with a shoe whose sole feels as though it's going to wear down the third time I put it on (I mean, I know Converse is fashionable but the pair I had felt really flimsy).

£75 a pop from the website. They might well go on my Christmas list this year.

I am hoping to launch my first competition and giveaway on this blog tomorrow. I am very excited - the prize is worth literally over ten quid. Come back and find out more - don't say I never give you anything.