Shoe Shopping!

It didn't take long to realize my cheap running shoes weren't going to cut it. It was only after a few weeks that I started to have knee pain, and like I mentioned before, a common reason for this is inadequate shoes.

So I did some internet searching for a good place to buy shoes and came across the Salt Lake Running Co. On their website was a section on biomechanical analysis. It is basically where they tape you running and make shoe suggestions based on how you run. I could go into it more, but I will just link to it here.

http://saltlakerunningco.com/home/about-us/biomechanical-analysis/

After a quick run on the treadmill, the very helpful sales associate said I overpronated when I ran, and showed me on the video playback. There is a couple of good articles on this, and of course I will link to them here.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-319-327-425-0,00.html

http://www.trifuel.com/training/strength-training/correcting-overpronation

The first link has a good cartoon video on overpronation, when I watched the video of myself running, my own overpronation seemed more cartoon-ish than the cartoon video.

The second link is an excellent article sent to me by my personal trainer/big sister that gives a bunch of tips on correcting overpronating. A good read, and from what I was told while shoe shopping, most people run in this manner to a certain extent.

So, back to the shoes. After watching the video the sales associate said I had two basic options when it came to shoes. I could get a traditional shoe and/or insert that gave additional support when I overpronated or I could get a "flat" shoe that focused more on correcting the problem rather than compensating for it. The idea of the less supportive flatter shoe is this; the basic form of the modern running shoe has changed very little since the 70s, and there has been almost no change in the amount of running related injuries since then. So why are we still using this form? Additionally, when the average person takes his/her shoes off and runs, he/she will more often than not land with a more mid-foot foot strike and all but eliminate overpronation. Since running barefoot doesn't really work outside on pavement, a flatter shoe is the best option. And of course, there are drawbacks.

The first and most troublesome for me, was I would have to actually think about running and concentrate on landing with a mid-foot foot strike. Could I do this easily? I have been running the same way my whole life and changing now seemed like it would be hard. The second drawback, if I am successful in changing how I run, I will be sore where I haven't been before after a run. This also didn't sound pleasant. What did sound pleasant was properly correcting overpronation and combating a whole slew of problems before they ever start, and getting rid of my knee pain the right way.

So that's what I did. After trying on 8 pairs of shoes, I settled on a pair of Nike Free light running shoes. I spent $100 bucks and I think I did pretty good. I didn't want to spend that much but went into the store with the mindset I was going to buy shoes on how I felt about them, not on the price. I do want to add that choosing the flatter shoe was made easier by the store's very generous policy of a 30 day exchange policy, don't like the shoe-just go back within a month and pick a different pair. At my current rate, that is about 40 miles!

The additional downside to the flatter shoes, according to the sales associate, is I will get less mileage out of them. They normally quote 300-500 miles for a pair of shoes, and he said I will not get much more than 300 with the shoes I purchased.

Now the question is, how do the shoes perform? Great, actually! I have done two half hour runs at just over 3 miles each and I have no knee pain to speak of. The upside to this is the soreness in new muscles was also minimal. While I do have to think about my foot strike, this is much easier than I had anticipated. When you think about it, what else are you thinking about when you run? Also, the shoes do most of the work for you. When I stop thinking about it, the form factor of the shoes takes care of most of the foot strike location. The added bonus, which was explained to me at the shoe store and which I did not believe, is that I'm faster. My strides are shorter and my cadence quicker, the end result is I am covering more ground. On my first run I added a quarter of a mile and on the second one, a run I would characterize as easy, I still managed to crack 3 miles.

So I can definitely say the shoe store trip and subsequent purchase was a success!

Current shoe mileage: 6.5 mi

Coming up, where to run and a look at running/training apps..