Buying Running Shoes

I’ve always had funny feet.

I’ve walked on my toes since I was a toddler so not only do I have very tight achilles tendons and skinny calves but my feet are a funny shape too. Whenever I’ve seen a chiropodist they’ve just looked at them and said they’ve never seen anything like it!

I’m sure this leads to a funny running style and this in turn leads to the problems I’ve experienced in the past with my back, knees and more recently my ankles. If I run these days, or do any exercise really, then my feet and ankles can be sore for days.

I have had professionally fitting running inserts for my shoes before and had video gait analysis performed many years ago, but I was never convinced that it worked. I’m sure it works really well for most people but no doubt the shoes and inserts are designed to correct the gait irregularities of ‘normal people’ and the people who do these analyses are used to seeing that. When I go along I’m sure things are different and what works for most people won’t work for me.

Despite this I decided to give it a go again as I’m sure the technology and understanding has improved since I last had it done. I needed some new running shoes anyway and we were off to Bristol so I popped into EasyRunner for a video gait analysis and shoe fitting.

They were pretty busy in there but still provided an excellent service. The staff were prepared to give you as much time as you wanted, first they had me running up and down the road in a fairly neutral pair of shoes just to see what my running style was like. Then it was onto the treadmill for some video analysis which showed that I ran on my toes (surprise, surprise). Actually, although it wasn’t a surprise to me they were quite surprised at just how high on my toes I was and that I never actually touched the ground with the back half of my foot.

Apparently my actual gait was fairly stable and neutral though which was quite a surprise to me, especially seeing as only having the one point of contact with the ground should be inherently more unstable than a normal running gait.

They therefore decided that I needed a neutral pair of shoes with plenty of forefoot cushioning. Off they went and brought out several such shoes in my size and had me running up and down the road again with different shoes on each foot until I found a pair that felt the most comfortable. It didn’t actually take that long for me, but some people were there for ages with the staff patiently trying on a huge selection of shoes before they settled on the perfect pair.

I’ve yet to try them in earnest (I might go for a run later), but they look and feel good and will hopefully make running more comfortable for me. I’ve since checked online and the price I paid was only about £5-£10 more than you can get them online so if they fit properly and suit me well it was well worth it for the professional fitting and gait analysis.

1 Response

  1. Avatar forComment Author Simon says:

    Hi Alan,
    Have you thought of trying some Vibram 5 shoes? They’re designed for “barefoot” running, but have a sole to protect your feet from abrasion. They are quite expensive at almost £100 but people seem to get on well with them. There’s quite a lot of evidence that says the modern cushioned running shoe isn’t that great for the body as they transfer the load up the leg, but your pain after running may counter that argument?

    Your blog’s great and Ynyslas is one of my favourite places, just the shame we live the wrong side of Aber!

    Cheers!

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Alan Cole

Alan is a Freelance Website Designer, Sports & Exercise Science Lab Technician and full time Dad & husband with far too many hobbies: Triathlete, Swimming, Cycling, Running, MTBing, Surfing, Windsurfing, SUPing, Gardening, Photography.... The list goes on.

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