Tree Trunks & Running Shoes

I went to get some new running shoes, as my previous ones had done over 900km and the spring was fast fading from the sole.

Run4It have a great video analysis system attached to treadmills, so you can try different shoes and see how they affect your gait.  In my current shoes, I was landing on the inside of my heel and maintaining that outward rotation of my foot through the stride.  I've never had any problems from that, but apparently it creates more stress and strain in the ankle and knee than necessary. 

The new version of the same Brooks shoe was a bit better (renamed from Transcend to Glycerin), but still left something to be desired.  We tried a Saucony which has support built in, but it felt like running with a lump of blue-tac under the inside of my heel in my shoe,  Then we tried a Asics shoe, and it was both comfortable and straightened out my foot nicely. 

There was only one problem.  It was a really boring plain black shoe.  Now, comfort and effectiveness are my first priorities but I felt MrsCyclops would be disappointed in me for getting something so dull.  So I asked if they had it in a different colour, and they found a pair of last years stock in bright blue.  Same effect on the treadmill, a lot less boring.  Also, happily, 25% cheaper!

Deal done.

Interestingly these are an Asics GT2000 - the updated version of my first couple of pairs of dunning shoes from here.  They reckon that shoe gives the sort of level of support I need, but that running in them had straightened my gait a little so I could get away with the Brooks when I was last fitted, but the Brooks didn't have enough support to maintain that change.  So I'm back to the Asics, and next time I should remember that I probably need slightly more support than it might look like to maintain things.

Phew.

Who would have thought shoes could be so complicated?

Anyway, I went out for a run and they felt perfectly comfortable, so that seems like a win.