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These few steps you can take down the path of
selecting a great running shoe for yourself, just to get you on
the right track. First, assess your need. Sit down, talk a
little common-sense talk with yourself, and be honest. Say,
"Self, what am I really after? Am I after a stylistic
masterpiece where people stop me on the street and ask me to
sign their foreheads?"
If that's right for you, that's valid. Most of us are going to
strike some kind of balance among the multiple factors of
durability, protection and support, traction and speed, looks,
and value-for-money. If you train seriously and run every day,
reflect on what's worked for you in the past, remember your
favorite shoes, and then go ahead spend the money it takes.
If you're a more causal runner, that's fine too. No shoe by
itself will make you fast or courageous (Common mistake).
Overall the most important things here are to keep you
pain-free, injury-free, and find a pair of shoes that will
provide durable, comfortable support. And figure out your budget
up front. It's your friend who taps you on the shoulder, brings
you back to reality. Not only will it keep you out of money
trouble, but it's going to help you choose from among the many,
many alternatives you have coming up.
After all this, your Self is going to say, "I like it when we
talk." Take a quick objective look at your feet. If you have low
arches, you're going to tend to roll to the inside when you run
for stability, you can't help it. If you have high arches, the
opposite is true and you're going to roll to the outside. But
not always -- it depends on what else is happening with your
biomechanics and the way you're put together.
Here's a trick: just like your tires tell you an entire story
your suspension's performance, just take a look at the bottom of
a pair of shoes you've worn down. That wear pattern will tell
you what you need to know about your need for arch support. Next
let's prepare for the bucketful of scientific jargon you're
going to deal with next. There's a whole heck of a lot of
terminology and research out there presented on the topic of
running shoes, and if you enjoy that stuff, you can analyze that
for days or weeks. Go for it. Likely about 80% of it is
overblown at best, or randomly generated by the marketing
department.
Either way, all of it can be boiled down to a few essential
categories of shoe functionality: fit and comfort and support,
flexibility / lightness / breathing, and traction and stability.
Translate those aspects of functionality back to your real needs
(remember that little talk with yourself?), and the answers will
become a lot clearer.
Finally, when you feel you've done an appropriate amount of
research and looking around, when you've tried a few pair on, go
ahead and pull the trigger without too much agonizing over the
choice. The truth is that you'll never really know if this shoe
really, truly works for you until after a few weeks of steady
use. If you're really dedicated to a quest for shoe perfection,
there's no substitute for doing a long-term experiment on
yourself. Take some notes over the course of weeks and months,
using you as a guinea pig with different shoes under different
conditions. Nobody else will ever give you better answers than
that. |
