Forums >Gears and Wears>Recommendations on learning more about shoes
Hey - I tried searching here but no luck (which I completely blame on my lack of search skills, and the fact that I'm looking for general information about shoes) The basis for my request is that I want to become better educated and not addicted to a particular shoe that I then cannot find when they change the models!
So here goes: I've restarted running again after a few years off. I am currently about 35-40 pounds overweight. I ran in my old shoes for a bit (brooks trance 8) but seeing as I had two half-marathons coming up I thought I should replace them so I went into a convenient running shop and tried out what they suggested and bought one (Saucony, powergrid hurricane 14). I looked it up and it's a stability shoe.
I dug out an old pair of shoes (saucony echelon 2s?) that I found during our move and they are "cushioning" shoes. I ran in them yesterday just to see what it was like and aside from feeling heavier I also noticed my calves were more tired after 5k than in the other shoe. Correlation not being equal to causation it occurred to me that I don't really know what "stability" or "cushioning" or "neutral" means, or anything about my feet (except they are different sizes and one is noticeably flatter than the other) so I thought I should learn.
So where would you direct a newbie? A running book? a book/website on feet? an appointment with my family doc?
Thanks
First or last...it's the same finish line
HF #4362
Was the store you went to a specialty running store or more of a general sporting goods shop? Did they do a gait analysis--it's nothing scary they just have you take off your shoes, roll up your pant legs and walk on a hard surface, then put you in some shoes and watch you run a bit. If not, find a specialty running store that does that. They will probably be able to recommend a shoe that will work for you. Ask a lot of questions.
Once you start running regularly, your gait may change as your feet and lower legs become stronger, so you should go back for a fitting several times until you start to see some consistency in what type (motion control, stability, cushioned, lightweight, etc.) of shoe works best for you.
Runners run
Thanks mikeymike - yep. A specialty running shop that I ran up and down a bunch of times, with and without shoes. So that's the gait analysis I guess.
Does that mean that - granted, only for right now when I'm running between 35 and 50 km a week - that I should stick with, if not the exact shoe, something pretty similar? i.e. another stability shoe?