Today, I went with my brother-in-law J to Marathon Sports to get a new pair of running sneakers. This was my first purchase at Marathon Sports, and I expected that the experience would mimic my trip to Jack Rabbit in New York. Truth be told, they were quite different, but the results were close to the same. I bought a pair of Mizuno Inspire...except mine are blue. I tried on a pair of similar Sauconys and Brooks. I probably would have been happy with any of the three, but stuck with Mizuno because the last pair worked well for me. Plus Mizunos fit my foot shape just slightly better. I think Brooks are for a thinner foot than mine.
I worked with a guy named Anthony, and he seemed to know his stuff. He took me outside and had me run in all three pairs of shoes in order to see how my feet pronate. As I knew from my last experience, my right foot pronates more than my left, which requires me to have a more supportive shoe. But because my left foot is normal, I want a shoe that is supportive, but not overly supportive. This cheesy video explains pronation. It's helpful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h0BrkOeFbk
Marathon Sports has a fine selection of shoes and expert advice. The main difference between Marathon Sports and Jack Rabbit is that Jack Rabbit actually films your feet while you're on a treadmill in order to diagnose your pronation. While I trust that the experts at Marathon Sports know what they're doing, I think it's easier to walk out of Jack Rabbit with an understanding of why you bought the shoes that you did.
I don't give too much advice on this blog, but this is one of the times that I'm gonna. So suck it up.
I wish that I had gone to one of these stores a LONG time ago. If you don't have a professional look at your pronation style, you're way more likely to get injured and not understand why. I've learned that I need a light weight, supportive shoe. If I don't have that, my right ankle will get injured, which leads to knee and hip tightness-- basically old man syndrome. For others, the wrong pair of shoes can lead to shin splints or even stress fractures. The mind blowing part? After you get your style checked out, you'll probably buy a cheaper shoe.
Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow when I'm going to talk about insoles (Oooo La La!) and my first run in my new shoes.
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