Any shoe/foot experts out there?

waldo56

Runners need cushioning and stability.

No they don't. Runners with terrible, unnatural form, heel strikers, need cushioning and stability. Forefoot and midfoot strikers need nothing of the sort.

sadein

Runners need cushioning and stability.

No they don't. Runners with terrible, unnatural form, heel strikers, need cushioning and stability. Forefoot and midfoot strikers need nothing of the sort.

Oh sweetie, come back and tell me that when you have my 54 year old feet, arthritis and bad ankles!

macdiver

Fix your gait and you don't have to worry about having super duper, fitted by the experts, expensive running shoes (having a high arch means you have a strong built in shock absorbing system, people with a flat arch have weak feet with a poor shock absorbing system that will take a long time to strengthen).

However did humans possibly run before the advent of specialized running stores and expensive shoes?

Stop heel stiking and the shoes you are wearing is irrelevant. The cusioning comes from your foot structure and muscles instead of the EVA foam under your feet. A forefoot striker would have no issue running a 5K in dress shoes (assuming you could tighten them enough to avoid blistering). Aqua socks make a fine running shoe for forefoot strikers.

Fancy running shoes are to running as canes are to walking.

The only thing that special fitted running shoes teach you is how to run the WRONG way.

Can I get an AMEN.

Using proper form you can run in any shoe (or do any other workout for that matter) without injury once you have strengthened the foot and leg muscles that have been weakened due to "support" shoes.

runnninginmd

Fix your gait and you don't have to worry about having super duper, fitted by the experts, expensive running shoes (having a high arch means you have a strong built in shock absorbing system, people with a flat arch have weak feet with a poor shock absorbing system that will take a long time to strengthen).

However did humans possibly run before the advent of specialized running stores and expensive shoes?

Stop heel stiking and the shoes you are wearing is irrelevant. The cusioning comes from your foot structure and muscles instead of the EVA foam under your feet. A forefoot striker would have no issue running a 5K in dress shoes (assuming you could tighten them enough to avoid blistering). Aqua socks make a fine running shoe for forefoot strikers.

Fancy running shoes are to running as canes are to walking.

The only thing that special fitted running shoes teach you is how to run the WRONG way.

The shoes I got fitted with were $100, which is pretty reasonable when it comes to running shoes. All shoes offer a different amount of support, flexibility, etc., so that seems like bad advice to say that everyone can wear whatever pair they want if they just run the right way. I would think you need to run the right way for THAT shoe...

sadein

The shoes I got fitted with were $100, which is pretty reasonable when it comes to running shoes. All shoes offer a different amount of support, flexibility, etc., so that seems like bad advice to say that everyone can wear whatever pair they want if they just run the right way. I would think you need to run the right way for THAT shoe...
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Absolutely, I'm not sure why everyone assumes that we are all built the same way. When I was running in HS, they were re-surfacing our track and we had to run on the grass football field. I started running barefoot and it felt great. For meets we had the prototype Nike running shoes, very light weight with no support.

NOW, having wrecked my ankles causing the bones in my foot to be slightly re-arranged, I have to have support. I also don't do much running anymore as I have found the walking works just fine for me.

Bottom line, take all advice on this site with a large grain of salt and use your common sense.

vmekash

Running store. Not only to they know a little something about footwear for running (and often other activities), but most (if not all) of the folks there are runners themselves. You may not need to buy shoes there, but their advice is usually spot on.
Good luck.