shoe advice - please! (Read 870 times)

Hi, I live about 2 hours drive to the nearest running shop, so have to rely on mail order for shoes - not ideal, I know. I have flat feet, overpronate and am ~20lbs overweight. Getting back into running after a long break and it has been going pretty well, but for a fair amount of aches and pains in my legs and feet. I have problems with the joints in my big toes, probably bunions. I have been running in Saucony Grid Stabil MC5 which are now at least 2 years old though they don't have a huge number of miles on them - they feel done. I'm not sure where to go next. I always used to run in Asics 2xxx, then went through a mix of all brands for a few years. Although the Asics are not a stability shoe per se, I wonder if the motion control Sauconys have really helped anything much? Most of my running is on gravel trails and packed dirt/gravel at the side of the roads, and I'm steadily building the distances, going very slowly! So I need a stability shoe (probably?), with a wide-ish toebox but a normal heal. I feel I would like some degree of cushion until my weight comes down. What would you recommend?

You are probably right, but a 4 hour round trip for shoes... and to be honest my experience of running shops in the past has been hit and miss. Usually there are some knowledgeable staff and then there's the trainee :-) and guess who I get serving...

I don't think that they are so flat really, and those were the first real motion control shoes I had bought. I'm not sure that they helped much though?

We need Zoomy to join the conversation.

Eh...I'm sick of shoes. I'm sick of companies overhauling their product line so that nothing fits my duck feet. Yeah, my experience with shoe stores has been pretty hit-or-miss and I live an hour from the nearest full-service running store. The problem I mostly run into is that I generally need a wide and many stores don't carry my size...or a model that once worked for me is revamped and doesn't fit, so even trying it on does no good. I think Running Warehouse has some thing where you can videotape yourself running on a TM and send it to them and they will help match you up to the right kind of shoe, though you still can't try it on, of course. They also don't take returns of used shoes. I would look at RoadRunner Sports. If you have an idea what works for you biomechanically and your size you can at least buy a pair and return them if they don't work, even after wearing them for a month or so. I think you may have to be a VIP member to do this, though. Your feet sound like mine...and a few months ago I would have recommended NB, but I won't any longer. They have recently retooled their shoes (went from the "SL-1" last to the "PL-1" performance last) so that pretty much all of their stability models come to a point (whereas the toe area used to be more rounded and roomy) and even through the balls of the feet are too narrow. I would need an extra wide in their current line-up...which is nuts. I have a pair of Mizunos that are mediums and are roomier than a pair of comparable WIDE NBs. I have tried 3 of the most recent NB shoes and ended up with blisters on the sides of either my big or small toes depending upon where the toe-boxes cut across. Perhaps Sauconys would work for you. I like the overall fit of those and several of their models come in wides, but they seem to be incompatible with my achilles area.

Yeah, I'd have to say to put me in the "get thee to the shoe store" line. But, I get it about a 4-hr trip just for shoes. I'd try to plan some kind of family outing to that city for the afternoon, around the stop at the store. I wouldn't drive that far just to try on shoes, either. But, taking my boy to a good zoo, or to some other attraction there, or even to run a good race in that town while I'm at it...Those I could do. That would make it worth the drive. You said your current pair of shoes is about 2 years old. You don't want to be stuck in a pair you hate for the next two years. Try on as many different pairs as you can, and take detailed notes of what you liked and didn't like, as well as prices. If you can't find the models you liked online when it comes time to order, www.runnersworld.com has resources to help find similar shoes. I always try to keep an eye on the sale items at www.eastbay.com I've always had good experiences ordering from them. You were commenting on not being sure if your support shoes did the job for you. One way to tell is to put your shoes on the kitchen table, pointing away from you. Look at them from behind at eye level. Do they lean toward the inside? Roll the shoe onto the forefoot a little. Does it rock toward the inside? If either of those is a yes, you may need a shoe with more support. If not, you may have either just enough support, or a little too much.

Thanks folks, yes the current Saucony motion control shoes I'm in rock to the inside. I guess I need to go try shoes on. I went to a 'sports' shop closer to home yesterday (45 min drive!) that just had a couple of pairs of shoes, but nothing suitable really. Maybe I'll go through to the Running Room in Halifax, they are open until 9pm so maybe I could make time.

You are probably right, but a 4 hour round trip for shoes......

Better than spending 4 hours at the doctor's office.

Eh...I'm sick of shoes. I'm sick of companies overhauling their product line so that nothing fits my duck feet. Yeah, my experience with shoe stores has been pretty hit-or-miss and I live an hour from the nearest full-service running store. The problem I mostly run into is that I generally need a wide and many stores don't carry my size...or a model that once worked for me is revamped and doesn't fit, so even trying it on does no good. I think Running Warehouse has some thing where you can videotape yourself running on a TM and send it to them and they will help match you up to the right kind of shoe, though you still can't try it on, of course. They also don't take returns of used shoes. I would look at RoadRunner Sports. If you have an idea what works for you biomechanically and your size you can at least buy a pair and return them if they don't work, even after wearing them for a month or so. I think you may have to be a VIP member to do this, though. Your feet sound like mine...and a few months ago I would have recommended NB, but I won't any longer. They have recently retooled their shoes (went from the "SL-1" last to the "PL-1" performance last) so that pretty much all of their stability models come to a point (whereas the toe area used to be more rounded and roomy) and even through the balls of the feet are too narrow. I would need an extra wide in their current line-up...which is nuts. I have a pair of Mizunos that are mediums and are roomier than a pair of comparable WIDE NBs. I have tried 3 of the most recent NB shoes and ended up with blisters on the sides of either my big or small toes depending upon where the toe-boxes cut across. Perhaps Sauconys would work for you. I like the overall fit of those and several of their models come in wides, but they seem to be incompatible with my achilles area.

*threadjack* Have you checked out Joe's New Balance Outlet online yet? You may be able to pick up some older models with the last you like. They carry models that are years old and it is always a bonus because they are cheaper.