IF THE SHOE FITS

While some sports are played barefoot in other parts of the world, most of us are required and benefit from the use of athletic shoes. The purpose of an athletic shoe is to support your feet and protect them from stress as well as allowing you to achieve your maximum potential in the sport.

When you purchase your shoes, remember that your feet will hit the ground over 1600 times every mile you run. If your footwear is the wrong size or doesn’t fit your needs, you are going to find it uncomfortable, probably annoying, and even worse it could lead to injury. So what do you need to look for? Number one rule; you should NOT have to break in an athletic shoe.  It should be comfortable as soon as you try it on.

The excellence of the shoe comes from the fit and the biomechanics. Your pronation factor is crucial to consider when choosing the right shoe. Pronation is the natural movement of your feet when they touch the ground. All feet roll inwards as the ball of the foot touches the ground. You can check this by looking at the wear patterns on your old running shoes.  If you tend to wear out your shoes first on the outside, you probably tend to underpronate; if you wear out your shoes more to the inside, look for a shoe for over-pronators.  You also need to know what type of foot you have, our feet are all built differently; some people have a lower arch and some people have a higher arch; still others have completely flat feet. All the different types of feet require different types of support in running shoes.  So taking that into consideration, it is important to make sure you have the proper shoe for your foot type and pronation factor.

The biggest and most common mistake I see people make is to bargain shop for an inexpensive first pair of running shoes right off the clearance table. After all, who wants to pay a lot for shoes when you may not actually use them much? This observation makes sense, but this kind of thinking will likely lead you to quit after a couple of miserable runs. When purchasing from the clearance rack, more often than not you get a pair of running shoes that are malformed for your foot, too heavy or too light, or just plain do not fit right. This can potentially cause injury to your feet, legs, hips, or even your back. Forget bargains. What you need to start running is the right shoe, not the cheapest. Be sure that whatever price you decide to pay for the shoes, it’s because the shoe has the features that meet your needs….not because it’s a certain brand or is worn by a celebrity.

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