{"id":1889,"date":"2014-01-06T17:46:06","date_gmt":"2014-01-06T17:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/?p=1889"},"modified":"2014-01-06T18:10:02","modified_gmt":"2014-01-06T18:10:02","slug":"finding-right-running-shoe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/finding-right-running-shoe\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding The Right Running Shoe!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Article by Nick Newman. Check his BLOG<\/a> & TWITTER<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n For me when participating in any sport your footwear is a key piece of equipment and for running in particular it is something that you need to get right otherwise your performance can be effected plus you can do yourself a mischief at the same time. I often wonder if people put any leg pain down to the fact that they are running and not down to the fact that they are using footwear not suitable to their individual needs, the key word there is individual as everyone has different needs when they run.<\/strong><\/p>\n Over the years that I have sold running footwear I have been asked so many times what the best shoe is and that is a near in impossible question to answer, just because a shoe is £140 doesn’t make it the best shoe for you, it all depends on what YOUR<\/strong> needs are. For example, how often do you run, what surface do you run on, do you have any injuries that need to be taken into account.<\/p>\n I don’t want to make this post using jargon and terms some may not understand so will try and make it as simple as possible, if I do use any I will try and explain as best I can.<\/p>\n How to get started<\/strong><\/p>\n If you are looking to start running the biggest piece of advice that I would give you is to go and get a “Gait Analysis” done. A gait analysis is simply an analysis of how your legs and feet work when you run, your foot is your bodies natural shock absorber and support system so it needs to be looked after. You can get a gait analysis done at most specialist running retailers, I would recommend Sweatshop or Runners Needs. The main point they look for during the process is the degree of pronation your feet have. Pronation is your foots way of naturally absorbing impact, some feet pronate to much and others not enough and seeing this the correct category of shoe can be recommended. The vast majority of people’s feet roll inwards to absorb shock from impact. Some peoples feet role outwards which is called supination, it is quite rare to find someone who supinates.<\/p>\n Pronation= 3 Dimensional inwards rotation of the foot, when in contact with the ground your foot is moving in 3 directions, downwards, inwards and forwards.<\/strong><\/p>\n The picture below illustrates degrees of pronation.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n You’ve had your analysis done and now know what your feet do when running and it time to get fitted with the right shoe. The person doing your analysis will probably use terms like neutral, support\/motion control when it comes to suggesting what category of shoe you need.<\/p>\n NEUTRAL.<\/strong> looking at the above picture your foot fits into the middle 3 examples so your foot supports you well but doesn’t naturally absorb impact so a neutral shoe is flexible and often more cushioned than a supportive shoe.<\/p>\n SUPINATION.<\/strong> Your foot is normally very rigid and absorbs minimal impact so you need a nice flexible and cushioned shoe.<\/p>\n PRONATION OR OVER PRONATION.<\/strong>,far left example. Your foot has rolled in beyond a safe degree and your possibly putting strain on various parts of your legs so you will need a shoe that is stiffer and one with a support device. The device in the shoe that supports you is called a medial post and is found on the medial(the medial side is the inside of your foot looking down at you feet)side of the shoe and is located in the midsole, it is more often than not grey in colour. The post is a denser foam compared to the rest of the midsole and it’s purpose is not to stop your foot from rolling in but to control the degree in which it does. It will normally start just before your arch( it can extend all the way to he heal) and extend beyond it depending in how much support your shoe has.<\/p>\n Here is an example of what a medial post looks like.<\/p>\n