Saturday, July 18, 2009

Shoes!

Thinking about this blog the other day, I thought I should give my take on some of the problems associated with running in regards to gear. Today, Ill give my take on shoes. When I started running again a year and a half ago, I bought a mid range pair of Nike's from MCSports, with no regards to anything except that they were in the running section. After I put 400 or so miles on them, I knew I needed another pair. I then decided that I should go to a speciality store and get "better" shoes. The wet test shows my arch as high, so I thought I needed support shoes. After going through various Brooks and Asics shoes, the owner of the store told me to try out what worked best in the past; Nike. He also let me know that there were some people who had arches that were one way, but who needed a more neutral shoe. Thus, I was led to the Nike Pegasus + line. The shoe I ended up getting was the 25th year edition, but I don't know if that really makes a difference. All I know is that the shoe has performed as well as any shoe I have worn. All of the other shoes gave me little blisters along the top of my arch. (Painful!) Usually, they popped up around the 4-5 mile mark on runs.

I have run as little as 3 mile miles and as much as 8 miles at one time in these shoes. I have had no hint of discomfort in my feet. So far, I have 300 miles on the shoes, and knew I was probably getting close to needing another pair. I found them online at Eastbay for around $68 + shipping. There was a sale on for 20% off the order, so they ended up around $60 and I purchased two pair. Ill transition the pair with mileage on them to short treadmill runs until them give me problems.

My only problem with the shoes had been a "sleeping foot" issue in the very beginning. This started around the same time I increased my mileage though, and the issue only arose on treadmill runs, so I will keep an eye on it when the new shoes arrive. Also, I wish running shoes would last longer. If you run 25 miles a week, the shoes will only last 3-5 months, and 5 months would be pushing any shoe. I do quite a bit of road running with races and training, and do trail running later in the year, so shoes tend to wear out quicker.

All in all, if you need a neutral shoe to mild pronation shoe, this would work. The price is attractive, and even if the shoe needs to be replaced after 300-400 miles of running, they are half the price of many competing models.

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