--Getting shoes "Fitted" is not expensive--

recriger

Just in case anyone is worried about price, don't be.

My story:

I bought some shoes at a ****'s sporting Goods last year. They cost around $140 after tax. I have flat feet and knee and back problems so shoes are an issue for me. These were purchased just for the gym, but I got running shoes because I fugured--Who knows. This past March I decided to start jogging. I made the mistake of running without arch supports since these were "support" shoes. Bad choice, I strained both MCL's. Three weeks later, after healing, I tried it again with my arch supports. My knees and back hurt after every run, but there wasn't any more "damage". So I figured that was as good as I was going to get.

I was wrong

This past Sunday the family and I were going out for a bike ride on one of the local trails. As we pulled into the lot to unload the bikes I noticed that there was a running store across the street. My wife is an accountant by trade, so she handles the money at home as well, plus she has heard ALL about my running pains. I asked her if we could get me a new pair of shoes, I assumed them to be around $200. She said yes; she apparently wants me to live past the age of 40, and I need to lose weight to make that life more plesant.

So we went over to the store to check it out. They were just opening up for the day and the fella propping the door open asked if we needed any help, so we didn't have to wait for anything. He sat me down and took my shoes to analyze. I had described my issues and said that I thought I had the wrong shoe set-up. After a few moments he said simply "Yup, this is all wrong". He walked me through all the problems. Seems that with the support shoes and the arch supports I was "crushing" the outside and running my heel at a high and dangerous angle. The outside tread was worn to half the thickness as the inside, and this after less than 15 runs under 3 miles each.

He measured my feet, checked out my supports and had me walk a few times without shoes to do a gait analysis. Then he said "I am at the mercy of my stock, but I'll go see what I can find". He came back with 3 pairs of shoes. Each set was tried on, mixed and matched to compare them directly and worn for a couple laps of the store.

I was very impressed. I have run in my new shoes a couple times now and my knees already feel to be back to normal. Well as close to pain free normal as a new runner with 50 pounds to lose can expect. With a simple change of shoes I went from 2.8 to 3.5 miles, and ran that 3.5 miles 8 minutes faster than I had run the 2.8 miles the week before.

The surprising part---The price tag. The grand total came to $135. Cheaper than the box store, fitted by an experienced runner and they feel great. Obviously, depending on the shoe it can be more expensive, but that is true of the box store as well.

To sumarize my long-winded story; listen to the advise from the runners on this site. The shoes are worth it, and as you can see above they are NOT necessarily more expensive.

LoraF83

Thank you for sharing! Shoes are SO important to runners and make all the difference in the world. Glad you got your problems solved and happy running!!

126siany

I hope more people read this!

Running injury-free is also key. The wrong shoes can easily set you up for an issue that could sideline you for several weeks.

Keep a log of your mileage, as for most runners shoes only provide their full cushioning and support for 300 miles or 6 months, whichever comes first.

Most shoe brands change their stock in the spring and the fall, so this can be a great time to pick up your shoes. You can get last season's color for 20%-40% less than the new season's color.

bushidowoman

I recently took my hubby to do this. We asked folks that we knew had run marathons in the past where they bought there shoes and got the same store recommended by all of them. The lady at the store was very knowledgeable and experienced in running, observed his walking and running gait in different pairs of shoes, and helped him find the right pair for his feet in about 20 minutes. There was a good sale going on, and we got out of there with an $80 pair of shoes that he feels very comfortable running in!

That $80 is a good investment if it keeps him away from the doctor's office and off hypertension meds.

recriger

300 miles or 6 months. That doesn't sound too bad. I hadn't put that much thought into that aspect, I tend to keep shoes until the tread starts to seperate. Guess that doesn't sound very reasonable with the increased demand being put on this pair.

$80 sounds like a good deal. I like to look for lowest cost most of the time, but Sunday I figured that I had 200 so I was going to seek comfort as the most important aspect and I really didn't even look at the price tags. Had it rung up to more I probably would have looked further.

CarsonRuns

300 miles or 6 months. That doesn't sound too bad. I hadn't put that much thought into that aspect, I tend to keep shoes until the tread starts to seperate. Guess that doesn't sound very reasonable with the increased demand being put on this pair.

I trade mine out at 500 miles. Some people get even more than this. I know when I'm reaching this point as my feet just start to be a little achy after a run. I'll never see 6 months on a pair of shoes though. :happy:

LoraF83

300 miles or 6 months. That doesn't sound too bad. I hadn't put that much thought into that aspect, I tend to keep shoes until the tread starts to seperate. Guess that doesn't sound very reasonable with the increased demand being put on this pair.

$80 sounds like a good deal. I like to look for lowest cost most of the time, but Sunday I figured that I had 200 so I was going to seek comfort as the most important aspect and I really didn't even look at the price tags. Had it rung up to more I probably would have looked further.

If you use an iPhone or iPod when you run, Nike has a pretty good running app that lets you keep track of the mileage on your shoes too. I've found it to be pretty helpful - no chance in losing that piece of paper you were tracking on.

CarsonRuns

300 miles or 6 months. That doesn't sound too bad. I hadn't put that much thought into that aspect, I tend to keep shoes until the tread starts to seperate. Guess that doesn't sound very reasonable with the increased demand being put on this pair.

$80 sounds like a good deal. I like to look for lowest cost most of the time, but Sunday I figured that I had 200 so I was going to seek comfort as the most important aspect and I really didn't even look at the price tags. Had it rung up to more I probably would have looked further.

If you use an iPhone or iPod when you run, Nike has a pretty good running app that lets you keep track of the mileage on your shoes too. I've found it to be pretty helpful - no chance in losing that piece of paper you were tracking on.

I use www.runningahead.com to track my mileage and it has a shoe tracker feature as well.

bushidowoman

$80 sounds like a good deal. I like to look for lowest cost most of the time, but Sunday I figured that I had 200 so I was going to seek comfort as the most important aspect and I really didn't even look at the price tags. Had it rung up to more I probably would have looked further.

I was prepared to spend at least $150. Those were the shoes he felt best in (they were Asics)--and they just happened to be 30 or 40% off that day. Score!

126siany

300 miles or 6 months. That doesn't sound too bad. I hadn't put that much thought into that aspect, I tend to keep shoes until the tread starts to seperate. Guess that doesn't sound very reasonable with the increased demand being put on this pair.

I trade mine out at 500 miles. Some people get even more than this. I know when I'm reaching this point as my feet just start to be a little achy after a run. I'll never see 6 months on a pair of shoes though. :happy:

It can vary quite a bit per person with weight, running style, shoe type and even based on your running surface. I killed a pair of shoes once in record time when I decided to start doing a lot of runs on a Greenway that was concrete. :noway:

If I've gone more than 300 miles, I go to the store in my running shoes and try on a new pair of the same model.If the new ones feel significantly different, I buy new shoes.

Especially for new runners, I think it's a good idea to check your shoes around 300 to be safe. But as Carson Runs said, you may be able to get more miles before you need to trade them out.