Old and new shoes

On Saturday, I got myself new shoes – yippie! So, I thought I write a few lines about what to look out for on your shopping tour. When training for a marathon, it is important to have more than one pair for several reasons:

• Shoes support your feet. But your feet and legs should not get used to one kind of support as it might weaken bands and muscles.
• After long runs, dampers need some time to rebuild.
• Your shoes need time to dry from sweat – and rain.
• Some shoes have soft dampers which is good for your joints on long runs and hard grounds.
• Other shoes are more direct which helps getting power to the ground and being faster in competitions.

Below is my advice when buying new running gear:

• Especially when you are a beginner, look for a specialised shop.
• Find an assistant who is a runner herself. I mean a real marathoni – not some footballer or sports student.
• Ask the assistant to analyse your style of running: Some people are running on their forefoot, some have a twist in their heel to the left or right, etc. There are a lot of different shoes…
• Bring your old shoes. Good assistants know about the characteristics and can suggest a matching model. And one can read from the wearing of the sole what kind of support your style needs.
• Try as many shoes as possible but do it systematically: If you like a pair compare it to the next pair and decided which one is better. Only keep the ones you like. Do not collect tons of boxes 😉
• A specialised shop should have a treadmill, test shoes before buying.
• Your feet will get thicker while running. Therefore, get your shoes a size larger than usual – a good assistant knows this.
• If you are a regular and long-distance runner you should get a new pair every 12 to 18 months as the dampers wear out. I usually have an old (6-9 months) and a rather new pair.
• Buy new shoes well before the marathon / competition you are planing to wear them at. You have to get used to each other 😉
• Don’t decide based on look and colour. Neither helps at kilometre 33.
• Don’t buy online I you haven’t tested the shoes.

I am a “normal” runner with no twists and I am landing on my metatarsus rather than on my heel. As I am rather light, I prefer a direct feel versus a lot of damping. So, here is my setup in case anyone cares (from top to bottom):

• An old pair of rather soft Nikes which I use mostly in the rain. No clue what they are called but I remember buying them for the Hamburg marathon.
• I bought the Saucony Mirage 1 for the Paris marathon. I like them because they are light, well ventilated and have good damping for my taste.
• The new Saucony Mirage 3 have a very soft upper material which felt very comfortable in the shop and did not disappoint on the first miles.
• The Adidas Adizero Boston 4 is very light and has little damping. The upper holds the foot very well without feeling hard. The ventilation is very good. The perfect shoe for me; worked very well on the Rome marathon.
• There has been no product update yet, so my new Bostons are just like my old ones. Most likely these will be my shoes for running with Barry.