Tips to Get the Right Running Shoes

Interesting...

Written by Shirley T

Monday, 29 June 2009 07:42

Lately I have been running pretty religiously. In fact, I make a point to run at least 30 minutes everyday from Monday to Friday. Having said that, very little I knew about running shoes. On and off, my Significant Other will give me some lecture on how to protect our feet/legs and preventing from injuries by investing in a pair of good running shoes. Somehow, this advice just vanished in the air (since I had a relatively good pair) until recently, I found that the soles (of both sides) were actually stripped off (due to wear/tear or unreliable quality - I am not too sure!).
Running or Jogging - good shoes make a difference
Our running mate suggested we tried Asics and this brand is also highly recommended when I was surfing online. Appearance or fashion is one thing but most importantly we have to take great care of our feet.

To figure out the best running shoes is mainly based on two main factors:
1. Determine what type of feet we possess by footprint test
There are 3 types of feet: flat feet, neutral/normal feet and highly arched feet. In order to determine, walk on sand or put a wet feet on a paper to obtain the foot mark.

For flat feet, usually the no inward curve from toe to heel while neutral/normal feet displays a shape of inward curve less than three quarter of an inch. Highly arched feet, the footprint test will demonstrate a very skinny or almost none inward curve. At extreme case, there seems no linkage between heel and toe on footprint test.

2. Determine your running style by performing running analysis
Run analysis can be carried out on treadmill to gauge tour running style. For those that run with foot rolls inward is considered as 'overpronating'. Whilst the one runs with foot rolls outward is called 'supinating'.
My new investment!

Consult the salesperson and share with them your running routine e.g. running frequency and track surface. Personally, I am happy to get a pair of Asics for my daily run with the help from a friendly sales personnel. The sales person did warn me that Asics shoes may feel pretty hard when I first wear but as time goes, they are getting pretty comfortable.

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