If you are a runner, you have a personal relationship with your favourite sneaker brand. There’s a good reason for that. Each one of us have uniquely shaped feet and what sneakers you run in can make or break your whole experience. I know people who swear by Sauconys or Nikes. Those of you who know me, know that I’m a huge fan of Mizunos. I have low arches and their low arch selection works for me. They are light, breathable, flexible, and most importantly for me, they feel like I’m not wearing anything on my feet.
If you are new to running and shopping around for good running sneakers, please go to a place that specializes in sports where they can analyze your foot arch and your stride. They will be able to help you find the right sneakers that are best for you and your arches. This is very important since if you don’t have the right arch support you will experience a lot of discomfort running and possibly even injury, so don’t skip this step. Go to the professionals and have your arch analyzed. Once it’s determined what type of arches you have, then subsequently you can shop for any other sneakers on your own.
Give your new sneakers a test run and see how they feel. They shouldn’t be heavy or tight. They also shouldn’t be too roomy. It’s very important that your sneakers feel very comfortable. Believe me, after all the pounding your feet will go through, the last thing you need is to feel your sneakers. They need to be just barely there.
Now, let’s talk about shocks. The cushions on the bottoms of your sneakers are designed for pounding protection and provide a bounce with each step as some of the force is being absorbed by the shocks. That’s a good thing. The bad thing is that shocks wear off, so depending on how often you run, you will need to update your sneakers accordingly. Again, this is not something you want to ignore because if you are running in old sneakers with shocks that are completely worn off, you will probably start to experience some discomfort while running and also possible injury to your knees. Your knees are used to stabilize you while you are running and if your shocks are worn off and are not absorbing the force from all that pounding, it will be absorbed by your knees instead. And you certainly don’t want that.