Selecting Your Best Running Buddy - SHOES!

Many a times, I am asked the question - How do I start running. The answer to this question, that I have often provided is - In order to run, all you need is Legs(these days we have blade runners too - all respect to them), Road, a pair of running shoes (these days we see a lot of barefoot runners as well - more about that in the article), a runner's heart.

The next question more often than not - what kind of shoes should i wear? Now that is a tricky one. There are various things that go into selecting the right pair. I have been a minimalist runner for the last 6 years and hence my recommendations are on those lines. 

However, in this article, I will try and address what are the different types of running shoes and how should you select one.

Many a times, if you are already a runner, you may face a situation where you may find a shoe to be perfect when you buy it in the store. You try it, may try taking some strides in it etc. However, the real test of the shoes is when you run some miles in them.

Let's first address the issue of how many types of running shoes are there.

There are two broad categories of shoes:

1. Shoes meant for road-running

2. Shoes meant for trail

Road

Trail

While the first one is meant for tar, concrete, synthetic surfaces, it can manage some amount of instability on the roads. The second one however, is more for running off-road - where the running track will have stones, gravel, water streams, rocks etc

Landing Pattern:

The kind of shoes that you should select should also depend on your landing pattern.

eg. - You may have Over Pronation, You may have a Neutral landing or Supination - also known as under pronation.

If you are an overpronator - you will tend to land with a slight bend towards the inside of your foot. You can identify this by checking any of your shoes which you have been wearing. The Shoe will have a wear and tear on the inside of the shoe. Like Shown in the image.

If you are an under pronator - you will tend to land with a slight bend towards the outside of your foot. You can identify this with the shoes that you are wearing. They will have wear and tear on the outside of the shoe. Check image.

If you have neutral landing, in that case you will see wear and tear at the middle of the shoe.

If you observe you will find many runners who over-pronate as compared to the one who supinate. The ones who over-pronate are more likely to get pain in the knee and ankle, if they wear a wrong type of shoe. These runners should buy stability shoes.

Right Foot
Image Source - gohockeynews.com

REMEMBER - It is absolutely OK to have either Overpronation or Supination. There is no need of correcting anything. It is natural and it is like your personality - it is what you are - need not change anything if it is not harming. If your knees/ankles/calf/shin are hurting due to Overpronation or Supination - you may have to look at the shoes.

Basis the above types of landings, most of the recognized shoe manufacturers have made different types of shoes:

1. Neutral Shoes - for the ones who have neutral landing. These shoes can have cushion for extra comfort and arch support as well

2. Stability shoes - These are essentially for the folks who have overpronation

3. Minimalist Shoes - These are made for the guys who are wanting to get to as close to natural running as possible. (More about this in the article later)

4. Barefoot shoes - These shoes mimic the barefoot running pattern. They will just provide you with cushion to protect from pebbles, gravels on the road. Rest it will give you complete feel of barefoot

A little about barefoot running.

Human beings - us - were Born to Run (There is a book by this name - Christopher McDougall). Remember our evolution - not always we had vehicles for transportation. For a long time, human beings walked/ran to destinations. This means we are meant to run. Christopher in his book talks about a tribe named Tarahumaras who have been known to be ultra distance runners and barefoot at it.

As this 2009 book became popular and people got more and more convinced about the benefits of barefoot running, people have started adopting this form of running. May be i will write another piece someday about how should one transition. 

However, if someone really wants to then the two types of shoes that they should look at are minimalist shoes and barefoot shoes. Minimalist shoes are the ones which have a very low heel to toe drop in mm (Check image). It means - there is very low cushion and it will give you the real ground feel and it will be as close to natural running as possible. The heel to toe drop here could range from 8mm to 2mm.

Image Source - bestcrossfitshoe.net

Barefoot shoes are the ones where the cover on the feet is just protect the feet from bruise due to stone, gravel, mud etc on the roads. Running barefoot may not be advisable in a country like ours where the road conditions are not so good. Hence the next best option to runners could be barefoot shoes. The heel to toe drop here is zero mm - which means there is absolutely no cushion. These shoes mimic the exact form in which we were supposed to run - Natural. 

To give an example - look at the guys in the defence training academies, all of them wear the canvas shoes and do most of the running. Hardly you will ever see any one of them complaining about there being no cushion in their shoes. Infact the Canvas Shoes that most of us wore back in school for PT are one of the best running shoes. I have myself worn them for long with no problems whatsoever. Also, some of my trainees from RunBurn Coaching have been using these for over 2 years without any hassles.

So how does one go about selecting the right shoes?

1. Go and get a foot analysis done by

• Going to a recognised brands shoe store near you - they can help - you need not really buy anything - but there is no harm in checking out the shoes
• ask someone to film your running form and get a knowledge about whether you over pronate or supinate or have a neutral form
• Take the Pronation Wet Pattern Test (check the multiple youtube videos about this before you do this).

2. Once you know what type of landing you have - determine where are you going to do most of your running - roads / trails

3. Determine whether you are intending to shift to barefoot running?

4. Select the shoe from multiple options available from the various manufacturers

5. Retire your running shoes after you have done about 1000-1200 Kms on them. In case of barefoot shoes it can be lower at - 700-800 Kms

Avoid these common mistakes:

1. Never buy a pair because they look good - these are not fashion shoes

2. Never buy a pair because the color suits your running outfit

3. Never buy without checking for deals at shops or online - there are numerous deals available these days on shoes

4. Never buy a pair early in the morning. As the day progresses our feet tend to swell. Hence the best time to buy is after 5PM. Thats is the largest that your foot will be.

5. Never buy the shoes which fit just right. When we run there will be a tendency to slide forward in the shoe and it may then cause black toe nails etc. Buying half a size bigger is advisable. It will also help blood circulation.

6. Never assume your size. Your size of shoes can differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. Hence it is best to go to some shop, try out and then buy. Does that mean you should not buy online - absolutely not. You can do Showrooming - try in the shop and buy online.😉

Hope this helps everyone.

Whatever shoes you wear (or don't) - remember every running workout has to be preceded by a good warm-up and followed up by great stretching session. Never fall prey to errors like "Too Much Too Soon". All of these can lead to overuse running injuries and in that case the shoes can hardly help.

Dont Forget - It's Fun to Run!

Me Myself! PC - Pratik Shetty, Location - Lonavala

Image at the top of the blog- Source - triathlete.com