When I started running, I was used to run with one single pair of shoes until it became unusable. Some years later, very recently though, I learned that in fact shoes were more or less like cars; indeed, after some kilometers, your shoes are loosing their elasticity. And so what? Loosing elasticity means loosing one of the most important functionality of shoes: protect your body against the impacts of the ground. It's particularly true when you are running regularly each week.
According to my budget and the average distance I'm running, I'm buying a new pair of shoes each year. I always go to a specialized running store. First you will find shoes you can't find in regular sport stores, and secondly, the shop assistants are often more qualified to give you real good advice. The first time I went in such a store, the man asked me very precise questions like the distance I was used to run, whether was running for competitions and how often, etc... After that he gave me three different pairs of shoes and told me that it would fit my needs by explaining me what were the particularities of each one. That's totally what I'm expecting for a salesman: being precise, clear, without any commercial arguments. With three choices I wasn't lost, and I knew that it would be good shoes for me.
We could sort the shoes in three different kinds:
- The first category could be named competitions shoes, which are only made to be used very occasionally. Usually these shoes are extremely light and don't have a lot of protection for the stability. In my opinion, if you don't have a good stability, it could be dangerous to wear this kind of shoes.
- The second one could be named middle-competitions shoes; these ones could be used for competitions and training. They are lightweight but they have good protections: thick heels, and protections for the stability on each side. That's why I'm choosing them.
- And finally, the third one could be named training shoes; they are usually heavier that the others but very resistant.
If you are running a lot, or several times a week, it's important to know that your body will loose in stability if you don't change your shoes between each training. Indeed, if you are using the same pair, you will always run in the same position, and you will increase the chances to get body injuries; whereas if you are changing each time, your body will get used to a change of position. I'm not a body specialist to explain this, but that's what I learned from many guys; one of them was arguing by telling me, he didn't get any problem since ten years by changing of shoes each time. We could be very extreme by saying, it's important to choose your shoes depending on the ground you are running. Anyway, I want to keep the reputation of a cheap sport. That's why a good thing is to keep your old shoes during the first year of your new ones and change between each training. When buying new shoes, throw away the old ones or keep them for very dirty races!
I hope I did teach you some advices and did not lost you until the end of this entry. Let me finish with my last acquisition in shoes.
My last shoes were the adidas adiZero Tempo (2008 edition), and so this year, my aim was to change brands; it's important for the reasons I mentioned earlier.
During my holidays in Norway I went back to my favorite running store. They suggested me several models, among them, the Saucony brand, an American one. I didn't know this brand, but in fact they are very old (created in 1898); since 2008 Saucony launches complete line of running shoes, and so they are trying to be on the first plan. I tried them and I was quite surprised by the good feelings I had. I finally choose the Saucony tangeant 3. After several trainings I must say that I'm really satisfied by these new shoes.
