Shoes and the Learning Curve

Whoo hoo!!!  I finally got new shoes!  It's been WAY too long, and I know my old shoes were shot.  I've been complaining for the past month or two about my back hurting after a run, and knowing my shoes could be contributing to my pain, I had to bite the bullet and spend some $$$. 

My hubby and I went to our local running club shoe store to truly learn about the shoes I should buy.  We went to Delaware Running Company.  Boy, did I learn a lot.  I found out I'm not a pronator (I guess this is how you distribute your weight on your feet/ankles).  I'm a mid-line runner.  The gal looked at the bottom on my old shoes and said I tend to have an even tread.  She watched me walk across the floor barefoot to view my pronation and weight on my ankles.  She suggested a shoe that has evenly distributed cushion. 

Now, I had no idea what this meant in "shoe world", so I tried on a bunch of brands/pairs.  I usually run in Adidas.  They are a bit wider in the toe-box, so they are better for me.  However, I tried on Saucony, New Balance, Nike, Mizunos, Brooks, you name it, I tried it.  Also, I had no idea you were supposed to go up a size from your norm to assist in more room.  Boy, did that make a difference! 

I ended up with the Ghost 4 Brooks shoe.  Check em' out!

Finally, I purchased some new sneaks to run in, and I cannot wait to run today! 

Also, I learned about other runner things, like which shorts to wear (a.k.a. which ones won't ride up my a%$ when I run), what to use for refueling (like options of gels, beans, etc...), the mileage I should be getting outta my shoes (somewhere between 350-500 miles/pair) and even what to do with my old shoes.  They recycle old shoes by chopping them up into bits and use the rubber soles for other things.  Very cool! 

Stay tuned to find out how these shoes are working for me.  I'm looking to start adding on more miles soon!