New shoes

So, I finally bought myself some new running shoes today. Pretty nice, huh? My current pair have been doing stalwart duty for the last 200 years (ok, last 8 years more realistically but that's still about 7 years longer than you're supposed to use them) so it's hardly an extravagance.

I went to Up and Running in Manchester, since I'd heard that they do "gait analysis" to help you choose the right shoes, and I was curious to know what this actually involves. It turns out that you put on a pair of shoes, get on a treadmill and then run for maybe a minute while your feet and lower legs are filmed by a little video camera. Afterwards the salesperson reviews the footage (no pun intended) with you on a laptop, and explains what's happening and what sort of shoe might be best.

First off I tried a "neutral" shoe (one with no special support). Looking at the footage the guy thought that I might benefit from a shoe with some extra support as my feet seemed to be "rolling out" a little bit too far at the end of the stride (I think that this is "overpronation" or "supination" - there's a nice simple explanation at Runnersworld). This seemed to be particularly pronounced on the left foot, which is interesting since when I've observed myself running at the gym I do seem to turn my left foot out (I'm hoping that over time Alexander Technique will help me reduce that somewhat). With the support the rolling out seemed to be reduced.

I tried some different brands and ultimately settled on the Asics shoe (GT 2140 if you want to know the gory details), which is the same make as the ones I have already. As the sales guy said, if you know that you like them already then it's a good bet. I'm always a little unsure going into shops to buy "technical" products when I don't really know my stuff, but I really enjoyed the low-key low-pressure approach.

They will need some breaking in I gather. However, hopefully having new shoes will make running a bit easier on the old pins, as well as providing some extra incentive to keep my running up through the year. Wish me luck!