Choosing The Right Shoe | There’s No Single Best Shoe
There is no single best shoe, everyone has different needs. Your weight, the surface you run on, and obviously the shape of your feet mean that one persons ideal shoe can be terrible for another.
We divide our shoes into three main categories are:
- Cushioning
- Stability
- Motion Control
And then the 3 minor categories are:
- Performance Training
- Racing
- Off Road
The main 3 categories are everyday option and are everyday options and are categorised essentially by your biomechanical needs. The minor categories are more specialised and you often only need these more specialised shoes for competing, so consider these as a second shoe.
You can try the wet test at home to see your footprint as you run or go get a gait analysis assessment done at a running specialist store.
Your footprint will reveal what amount of stability you need:
Normal Feet: These have normal sized arch which will leave a wet footprint with a flare.
Best shoes: Stability shoes with moderate control.
Flat Feet: This has a low arch and leaves a print, which looks like the whole sole of the foot strikes the ground.
Best shoes: Motion Control shoe or high stability shoes.
High Arch Feet: This leaves a print showing a very narrow band or noband at all between the forefoot and the heel.
Best shoes: Cushioned (or neutral) shoes with plenty of flexability to encourage foot motion.
Stay away from motion control or stability shoes, which reduces foot mobility.
Category: Marathon Advice, Running Advice
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