New Shoes

The time to change the shoes arrived after much deliberation. Tempting though it has been throughout the year to buy a new pair every time the sale brochure falls on the doormat, I’ve waited till changing the shoes can no longer be put off. My feet ache. I bought another pair last year, but they seem to be better on the track, and the old pair has stayed in service for pounding the pavements, that is, until now… so with one pair of shoes in the cupboard, how many more pairs of running shoes do you need?

For cyclists, they say that the correct number of bikes is always n+1 where n is the number of bikes currently owned, but for runners, how many pairs of shoes? As for cycling, I am definitely in the beginner stakes here. Advice is to alternate/rotate shoes when training, then there are trail shoes and spikes for cross-country, and racing flats for race day, perhaps there are more.

But, when do you buy new shoes? –  sportsmedicine recommend between 350 and 550 miles – running around 25 miles a week would mean new shoes every 3-4 months. There are good reasons for replacing the shoes, injury prevention foremost on the list. There are also a few tell tale signs to let you know that the much loved pair of running shoes needs a rest

• – an increasing number of small injuries or niggles,
• a soft sole that “gives” when pressed in the middle or allows the shoe to be twisted

How to choose the shoes? – this is tricky. My first pair of running shoes was perfect, but since then, it has been a struggle to find anything comfortable, narrow shoes have meant moving up a size, resulting in blisters and bruised toes … until recently when I discovered what that extra eyelet was for, and how to use it (more later). The right shoes depend on running gait and terrain. Runners world have a guide for beginners, which describes the types of shoes and types of runners that would use each, there’s even a tool to help choose a pair.

And the extra eyelet at the top of the shoe? – Happily this went unused for some time, and unhappily, with shoes the correct length and a nice wide toebox for wide feet, any pains of trapped nerves from wearing shoes too narrow was replaced by the discomfort of blisters that made running painful, until finding out what the extra eyelet was for and how to use it as an ankle grip to stop the foot sliding forwards. The video shows the interesting way of lacing near the ankle. There are also tips on lacing to avoid black toenails and pressure points – luckily I haven’t needed to try these out, so don’t know how well they work, but the ankle/heel grip is good. It was a joy to jog and having the wriggle room. Still not the perfection of the first pair of running shoes, but it feels better.