Under Armour's going to release its running shoes in the beginning of 2009. I'm kind of pumped to see what they look like.

I like my homeboy (MD alumn and CEO of my fave running apparel company ever) Kevin Plank's quote in response to this:

One analyst questioned how Under Armour was going to win over customers who were loyal to other brands.

Running shoes are the second-largest category of athletic shoes, with $4 billion in sales, according to SportsOneSource.

Plank said they would target a consumer who doesn't necessarily have an allegiance to a particular brand. He also said they would target athletes who run as part of their training. He noted that running apparel is one of the company's best-performing categories and that they would promote the shoe's technology.

"Our goal is not for people to trade one shoe for another," Plank said. "We believe we have a better shoe."

Interesting, interesting.

P.S. Peeps, please check out my post below and leave me some advice on bikes. I know next to nothing and could use all the advice I can get!

Here's a quick tid-bit about my favorite sports apparel brand.

At a meeting yesterday, Under Armour said it has a prototype for a new running sneaker. I mean this isn't news exactly, I'd read before that some running groups in the Baltimore area were getting to test it out.

What is kind of newsy is that after the very successful launch of its cross-trainer over the weekend, Kevin Plank, a Maryland alum and CEO of Under Armour, said he eventually expects shoes sales to exceed apparel sales.

As a runner who has already found shoes that work for me, I don't really see myself switching brands just because the new shoes bear the UA name unless the shoe is super fabulous and far out performs my Mizunos.

I don't know. What do you guys think?