How do you buy the right running shoe for you? Pete Larson over at RunBlogger has a good post on five different things to look for when trying out a new running shoe. Following this advice is a great way to ensure that you buy the right running shoe for your foot and body type. This is critical in reducing the chance of injury. Here is Pete’s advice for running shoes:
1. It causes no pain. No abrasion, no hot spots, no unusual aches in my legs or feet.
2. It disappears on my feet. If I weren’t concentrating on how it feels, the shoe would go completely unnoticed.
3. Ground contact simply feels “right.” This is something that is extremely difficult to verbalize but very easy to feel the moment I start running in a shoe that’s a good match for me – a good shoe simply feels right when it hits the ground.
4. It makes you want to run fast. Sometimes a shoe feels so good that you simply want to cut loose and run wild.
5. A good shoe makes you long to run in it again. This, for me, is the number one sign that a shoe is a good match. When I finish a run in a good shoe, I simply can’t wait to run in it again.
The post includes more information about each of these factors. Another factor to keep in mind is to make sure that you buy the right running shoe for your bio-mechanics. If you pronate, make sure that look at motion-control shoes. On the other hand, if you have a neutral foot strike, you should not worry about excessive stability control in a shoe.
