The hunt is over - a decision has been made

My hunt for a new pair of running shoes has taken me to three separate running shoe stores in search of the perfect shoe. Not all shoe stores are created equal though as I found out, and as posted about here.

Two stores did however stand out, giving quality customer service, having excellent knowledge and making good use of video running gait technology were. These stores were Shoe Clinic and Shoe Science. I visited the Albany branch of both stores and was equally impressed with the sales persons knowledge and friendliness and could easily have purchased shoes from either store.

It was interesting though the running shoe recommendations they came up with.

In the case of Shoe Clinic I was recommended the Brooks Adrenaline GTS9. A structured stability shoe that adequately kept my not too excessive pronation in check.



Shoe Science on the other hand recommended the Adidas Salvation, another Stability / control shoe which offered a superbly cushioned ride and controlled my pronation well. Of the two the Adidas was my favorite.



Neither store was able to offer me a shoe for mid foot running though Shoe Science suggested the New Balance MR 800 as being a good mid foot shoe . Unfortunately they had little stock and are waiting for the next model, the MR 801, to come out in the next month or two.

As great as the Adidas felt, the one shoe I have been reading about all year but just have not been able to get my hands on, due to New Zealand stores not stocking them, is a pair of Newtons, from Newton Running.

Newton Running produce a shoe specifically designed to accommodate the naturally efficient running gait of a mid foot landing runner. The shoes incorporate a radically different forefoot cushioning technology, termed Action / Reaction Technology by the folk at Newton. The design incorporates four external actuator lugs which upon landing are depressed into hollow chambers inside the shoes mid sole.


The revolutionary sole of a Newton Shoe. photo from runtotri.blogspot.com

These shoes seem to be a perfect fit for the style of running that I'm going to persevere with, and that's a mid foot running gait, specifically the style promoted by Danny Dreyer known as Chi Running .

As I've said these shoes are hard to track down here but I was lucky enough to stumble upon the local importer's website. Evidently the shoes are often on display and available for trial at events around the country. As it happens once these trial shoes have run up a few K's they are then sold off at way less than half price.

Given my history of injury and failed comebacks, I was naturally wary about forking out $260 for a pair of radical shoes that I haven't even been able to try on before. Instead for $110 I can pick up a used pair that may have done 20 or 30 miles at most - and still with plenty of life left in them. So the other night I took the plunge and ordered a pair online.

I am about to join the world of Newton Running - wish me luck.

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Smiths Sports Shoes disappoint

Over the last few weeks I've visited a few running shoe stores keen to try out a few new shoes and hopefully find the right pair for me. I was keen to try out a several stores as a way of getting a second and third opinion from a suitably qualified (hopefully) running shoe expert.

At each store I've been sure to mention to the sales people that I have had about a year off running as I've tried to get over my foot and shin injuries so they were fully aware of my background and thus better informed to fit me with an appropriate shoe.

Of the three stores I had two good experiences but unfortunately my experience at Smiths Sports Shoes at Mt Eden was not so good. I'll get the bad out of the way first and write a post next time about the good.

Smith Sports Shoes is what I would call a bulk sports shoe discounter which tries to be a specialty running shoe store. They are all set up to provide running gait and video siliconcoach analysis but sadly none of this was offered to this customer and it didn't look like this technology was used in the majority of cases while I was there.

I mentioned to the salesperson that I was interested in a shoe which was suited to a forefoot or mid sole striker as this was a style of running that I was interested in moving towards. The salesperson seem confused by this and looked at me like I had just escaped from a mental institution as if to say 'why would you consider such a thing?'

It seemed that he had never heard of such a running style and despite my explaining the potential benefits , IE more natural style of running in keeping with how we run when in bare feet, he still was very dismissive of the idea.

There was no offering to take a look at my stride and trying to match me to a shoe it was basically take your pick of a few models off the shelf and try them on and see how they feel.

I was fast losing interest by this point. This was the last store on my list to visit and I did all ready have an idea in mind of what shoes had felt good previously. I therefore was not particularly fussed about not being offered a video analysis. I quickly tried on a few pairs( Brooks, New Balance & Nike) before thanking the salesperson for his time.

Smiths is after all a 'sports shoe store', catering to many sports so, while they stocked all the main brands of running shoe, sadly for this potential buyer I didn't feel I got an inadequate level of professionalism or quality running shoe advice to enable me to make an informed decision on what shoes to buy.

I am pleased to say that I did get some much better service from two other specialty running shoe stores and I'll post about those stores next.

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On the hunt of a new pair of running shoes

I've been thinking a lot about buying a new pair of running shoes lately.

My current shoes, a pair of Adidas Supernova, would be two and a half to three years old now though they would still have way less than 500 km 'on the clock' due to my on and off running over that time.

Despite their low mileage I still think its a good idea to update the shoes so I'm starting a fresh when I start running again this spring.

So to try and improve my knowledge I've been reading up large on the topic and now I'm well versed with such terms as flat feet, high arch , medial post , motion control, stability etc. Runners are certainly spoilt for choice these days when it comes to shoes. There is literally a shoe to fit everybody (or foot).

Apparently the key to finding the right shoe for you is to know your foot type. Generally there are three types of feet, determined by the height of your arch. A simple test to see which foot type you are is to stand on a surface with wet feet so that it leaves an impression of your foot. If you can see almost your whole foot then you have a low arch , or flat feet. If the middle of your foot narrows to around half of the foots width the you have a normal arch. If you have a distinctive curve to your foot print from ball to heel, such that very little of the mid sole is visible then you have a high arch.

Most runners have a normal arch height which allows them to generally choose from a wide variety of neutral running shoes offering cushioning or some motion control features for those that slightly over pronate.

Runners with flat feet tend to overprotate due to the low arch lacking the shock absorbing qualities of a normal arch. They tend to need a motion control shoe offering firm support on the inside edge of the shoe to try and correct the over protation.

A high arches will also provide inadequate shock absorption often resulting in under pronation (or supination). A flexible, cushioned shoe which encourages pronation is generally recommended for these runners.

So having done my research (ie the 'wet test') I've found that I have normal feet. Well at least something is normal I thought! The next step was to find a shoe.

An interesting exercise is to go to one of the many running shoe websites and use their shoe finder tool. I did that at Roadrunnersports.com and here's what they came up with for me.

Runningshoes.com cam up with this selection for me.

Some interesting choices there with a notable exclusion being Adidas, which has been my shoe of choice for the last two pairs. Most of the recommendations seem to have me in a stability shoe with some additional medial support to guard against over pronation.

I generally like to try before I buy though so over the past few weeks I've visited several specialist running shoe shops in town to see what they can offer me. I'll post further about my findings shortly.

Until then happy running.

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