If the shoe fits

You always hear how inexpensive running is as a form of exercise, and to a certain extent that’s true. You don’t need fancy equipment or a gym membership, just a pair of shoes and the great outdoors. But there’s the rub… you need shoes. And, particularly when you are doing a lot of running, you need really good shoes.

Good shoes don’t come cheap. The minimum amount you can expect to pay is $100 – more for a really good pair. Now, when it comes to shoes, I have to confess I’m pretty cheap. I haven’t paid more than about $120 for a pair of shoes yet. It’s really starting to show.

I’ve always had a bit of problem with running shoes. I wear a size 9 shoe, and when I first started running, I really wanted the Nike+ running shoes so I could use my iPod to track mileage, etc. I went through three pairs of Air Max Moto shoes before realizing that they really weren’t the best shoes. They didn’t have enough cushioning, and all-in-all, I wasn’t happy with them.

So I went to the Running Room and bought my infamous pair of Mizunos and a sleeve to hold my Nike+ sensor. The Mizunos gave me terrible blisters, so the leader of my 10K clinic advised me to wear two pairs of socks. That eliminated the blister problem, but when I ran my last 10K race, I also lost my toenail as a result of my shoes being too tight. (As an aside, my Nike sensor then wore out, and I never bothered replacing it. I started using MapMyRun.com to plan out my routes.)

I went back to the Running Room and they told me the size 9s were just far too tight, and that was my problem. So they gave me a pair of the Asics (the cheaper ones) in a size 10 – the only size they had in stock. Those are the shoes I used to run the half marathon last March. And they weren’t too bad – in the winter, I wore thick socks and it didn’t bother me too much that they were too big.

Spring rolled around, and the Asics were on their last legs. Plus, with the warmer weather, I stopped wearing thick socks – and I noticed how badly my feet were slipping. My knee started to hurt again, as did my hips; a sure sign I needed new shoes.

To “get me through,” I bought another pair of Nikes at the outlet, and they were super-cheap. I honestly wasn’t even sure they were the right type for my gait (I roll my feet outwards), but I figured it would get me through training for the 5K, then this summer I could invest in a pair of good shoes.

Well, those Nikes barely lasted a month. They got so bad, my friends could see my feet rolling outward. They looked like crap, felt like crap, and all the aches and pains started coming back. I started running in the old Asics again, because at least they didn’t completely kill my feet.

But they weren’t going to last, and my long runs (up to 14K at this point) have been torture. So I finally bit the bullet and went to the Burlington Orthotic Center to get my gait analyzed and to get PROPERLY fitted for shoes.

The results weren’t too surprising. Yes, my feet indeed roll outward, and the left one actually rolls out, then rolls in. I tried on several different pairs, and we settled on the Asics (but the level up from what I had.) However the biggest change is that I should be wearing a 9 ½. The 10, they said, was just way too big for me and it was no wonder I was having problems. The 9 ½ I tried on felt great, but they were a D width, and that’s too wide for my foot. They offered to order in the B width, and from then on it’s been a waiting game.

I finally get to pick up my new shoes tomorrow, and I have to say I’m excited. I have to run 16K on Sunday evening, and I was dreading the thought of doing it in my beat-up old Asics. The new shoes will seem like heaven.

The best part is that because I got them from the orthotic center, I can get my doctor to sign a prescription and claim the shoes under our benefits. We get up to $200 a year for shoes, so if one pair of these criminally expensive (approx. $180) shoes can be covered, that is fantastic. Because at the rate I’m running, I’ll need new shoes again before Christmas. Ouch!

Happy trails…