Getting Fitted for Running Shoes

So I’ve been running consistently for 6 weeks now – wow, 6 weeks! – and figured that it was probably about time that I get some real running shoes. I had been hesitant in the past to spend the money on running shoes, mostly because I never really stuck with running past the 3-week mark. But now that I’ve doubled that, I’ve realized that my meet don’t have to hurt so much when I ran.

Up until now I’ve been running in these Nike Initiator shoes that I bought to workout about 2 years ago. The shoes are beat-up, heavy, and pretty uncomfortable. Well, not anymore.

I decided to start my search at a local running store, Dick Pond Athletics. When I did a search for running stores near my zip code, that’s the one that showed up, so that’s where I headed.

The store was actually smaller than I thought it would be, but I was greeted by an employee (Brian, who is awesome, by the way) right away and told him that I was in need of a fitting. I was told to take off my shoes, put on some running socks, and hop on the treadmill. (Evidently, walking/running on a treadmill is totally normal – and expected – when getting fitted for running shoes, but I certainly didn’t know that and it took me by surprise.)

Brian analyzed the way my feet hit the ground (or, treadmill belt in this case) and determined that I basically have medium arches in my feet and the arch on my right foot is higher than the arch on my left. What that meant was that I needed a medium support shoe and he also mentioned something called supination (which I totally had to look up when I got home because I acted like I knew, but I was totally confused). Supination, or underpronation, is an insufficient inward roll of the foot after landing, causing excessive wear on the outside of your shoes. And, sure enough, when I checked the bottom of my Nike’s I had definite wear on the outside of the shoe. Who knew! So now that we figured out the type of shoe I needed, it was on to the fun part – trying on shoes!

Brian brought out a total of 3 shoes for me to try, two that were a little heavier (which I did not want), and one that was a little lighter than the other two. The biggest shock of my visit was the size of my shoe. For YEARS I have been wearing a size 9 shoe. But, thanks to Brian, I learned that my actual shoe size, at least for running shoes, is a size 10 AND A HALF! A whole size and a half off. No wonder my feet have been killing me every time I ran! After trying on all three shoes – in the right size – it didn’t take me long to realize that I needed…

The Saucony Mirage 5!

Now this shoe is WAY brighter than any other shoe I would normally choose to wear, but a good running show is all about the FIT, and not the LOOK, right?!?!

I’ve taken them out on the trail a few times now and I can honestly say that my feet no longer hurt – at all- when I run. I love them!!!