Who knew that picking out shoes could be so complicated?
Before last month, I always bought my sneakers based on which ones were the cutest and on sale. Not again.
For the last year or so, I had noticed an increasingly common occurrence... my feet hurt during Amanda's Body Attack classes. The arches and balls of my feet would ache through all of the countless rounds of plyometric lunges and jumping jacks. Manda took me to Fleet Feet last year to get some inserts for my gym shoes. They made a difference... but only for a little while.
Finally, I went back up to Fleet Feet for one of their "fittings". I haven't had someone measure my feet since I was a kid and my parents bought my shoes at Stride Right (where if you wore a hole through your shoes on the playground before you outgrew them, they'd replace them for free), and wasn't sure what to expect. I don't normally like someone touching my feet unless they're giving me a pedicure or foot massage!
They measured each foot multiple times and talked about arch settling and foot shapes. Then, they had me run on their video camera-equipped treadmill and recorded me. They played it back very slowly, analyzing my gate, foot placement, and all sorts of other intricacies that I've never considered before. I just sat there wondering, "What the heck is pronation, anyway?"
Finally, they brought out several different pairs of shoes that matched my foot type and gave the support I was looking for. I picked the ones I liked best, a pair of Mizuno Wave Inspires, and held my breath as I checked out.
Several weeks later, I am still in love with these shoes. I've done several of Manda's classes, run on the treadmill, and not had a moment where I thought about my feet. In fact, I think that I went a little too hard the first day and wore out the rest of my body because my feet weren't hurting.
This kind of thing is probably a no-brainer for serious runners, but it was all a new experience to me. I can't say enough good things about Fleet Feet; I think I'll be buying my tennis shoes from them from now on.
2 comments:
Yeah, me too. and I always thought it was a scam how they say you should replace your shoes after so many miles. I liked my old method of replacing my shoes as they fell off my feet (or after 5 years, whatever came first). But I have found SUCH a difference if I keep the shoes only as long as they still have cushion.
So, your dogs can breath agin.
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