Tuesday, 17 August 2010

Shoes

Monday, following the advice of Nurse, I took myself down to the running shoe shop in Bath.

First I had to run without shoes to land one foot at a time on a pad. This showed a plot on a computer screen that revealed how I was landing - heel or toe or slightly askew - on the pad. It identifies over or under pronation of the feet whilst running - when the foot rocks inwards or out on landing .

Then the sales guy selected a suitable pair of shoes for me and watched while I ran up and down outside the shop in The Corridor. This is called “gait analysis”. From watching me he reckoned that I had a toes-out gait and in shoes did over-pronate a little - which had not been revealed by the electronic pad in the shop when barefoot.

He then selected another two pairs of shoes for me to try. I even tried wearing one shoe from each pair! Doing this helped me to make my final choice.

Which turned out to be the white and lime ones.

It may seem a bit bizarre running up and down a shopping arcade amongst the tourists, but it does mean a more natural test than on a treadmill.

The whole process gave me confidence:-
  • Knowledgeable staff who are also enthusiastic runners
  • Time taken - no rush
  • Advice not hassle
  • No pressure to buy lots of stuff
  • Busy shop - lots of customers

For those interested in technical matters:-
  • Shoes - Asics GT-2150
  • Socks - Hilly
  • Shorts - Gore
  • The Corridor - 1826 - Architect Henry Edmund Goodrich

Sweated buckets on the First-bus going home. The heating was on.


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