Running Shoe Shopping

For most of my life, I have avoided every opportunity to run. But here I am training for a marathon. I only have one issue, running shoes. Last November I bought a pair of Asics Kayano 16, which I loved. I trained for and ran two half marathons and two triathlons in those shoes. They gave me some minor blisters, but nothing unexpected after running 13.1 miles. They have over 300 miles on them, and now just plain hurt when I run in them.

I know it is time for new shoes, but it is not as easy as it seems. I went to one specialized running store. They video taped me running on a treadmill and they had me stand on a special pad to check how I stand. Then they put me in the Asics Cumulus 12 and off I went. I figured since I went to a specialty store and they went through all that to check me out, they had to be good. It couldn't have been further from the truth. The shoes hurt, from the moment I ran just 3 miles in them. I thought it would improve, so I ran another 3 miles. Then it was back to the store to get their advice. They sold me a pair of insoles which seemed to improve the feeling of the shoe, but after running 5 miles, I was sure it did not. So once again, it was back to the store. I told them that I just wanted to order the Kayanos again.

Little did I know, running shoes, like cars have newer improved models. So when the Kayano 17 arrived, I went running in them. For three weeks everything seemed fine. Then as I started moving into longer distances, I noticed that my arches and calves were aching a lot. At first I just thought it was from running more, but then it got extremely painful. So once again, my running shoes were hurting me. So I decided to go to a different running store. The only issue was they didn't carry my size in stock. No matter what shoe I wanted, I'd have to order it. So I tried on a couple of shoes in a close size, and asked them to order one for me. So now I wait, and in the mean time I get to choose between my Kayano 16 with too many miles on them or my Kayano 17 that don't fit right.

I have always hated buying shoes. I have odd shaped feet with a wide forefoot, narrow heels and high arches. But I've never really cared about running shoes before because I was only running a few miles. Now trying to train for a marathon without shoes is proving to be very difficult.