I double knot my shoe laces. I don't remember when I started doing so, but I'm guessing it was sometime in college. A single knot just doesn't keep my laces tied, no matter how tight I tie them.
Last week, I read an article about how to correctly tie your shoelaces on Runner's World. I scoffed at the subtitle. "The right way ... to lace your shoes", indeed! There's nothing wrong with how I lace my shoes, and how on earth could that help with beginner's running?
It turns out the article is right: I was doing it wrong. I was tying granny knots instead of reef knots. The big distinguishing feature of the reef knot over the granny knot is that the reef knot gets tighter as you pull on it, rather that coming undone.
The article argues that when you tie the knots correctly, your shoes have a more consistent tightness and you don't have to stop to tie your shoes during a run. A week into my experiment using the reef knot, my laces stay tied, even with a single knot.
Somehow, learning this knot makes me feel more efficient, like I've learned a time-saving tip that actually works. It also makes me realize that you're never too old to learn to tie your shoes.