[Gemme]

A topic in which I can actually add something helpful.

It's best to have more than one pair of shoes and rotate them regularly. That way, your feet won't get the chance to settle and have the same pressure points thus increasing the chance of injury. Take your insert out and look at it. If you've been in those shoes for any length of time, you'll see that it's likely worn and completely formed to your feet.

If you have one or two pair of shoes but cannot afford another, invest in good performance insoles. Mine cost $19 a pair and that's from a small chain. I think that Walmart has them for less and they are Dr. Scholl's, which is good. Walmart stores typically have a Dr. Scholl's machine that you stand on and it will tell you which insole is best suited for your feet.

Make sure you are not choosing a shoe because of it's looks (I have to keep an eye on this because the 'pretty' shoes are never the ones suited to my particular issues and I'm totally Jonesing for a shoe with purple in it, but alas...it's not meant to be for now). For example, if you over pronate like I do, you need additional support at the sides and arches. A good way to tell if the shoe has enough support for this issue is to take the shoe in your hands, sideways, and push with your thumb on the side of the heel. Then push, with your thumb, on the middle/arch of the shoe. The middle support should be denser and firmer than the heel. If it's not, it doesn't have enough support for that issue.

If you don't know if you over or under pronate or are neutral, go to a runner's store. They will have you walk and run in front of them and can assess your style and what shoes would work best for you. Even if you don't buy your shoes there, most are an excellent source of information.

THIS is a good link for information and lists of good shoe matches and there is a visual of what under and over pronation look like as well as neutral. There's not any part of my body that ever falls into a 'neutral' category, unfortunately.



I currently have 5 pairs of shoes, including the new ones I just bought and haven't broken in yet. That pair was referred to as 'the Cadillac' of shoes for over pronators like myself. I got them at 40% off, which is great because I would not have paid the original price for them. I've only paid over a hundred for one pair and I've had those for almost 2 years and have already disposed of the insert and moved on to performance insoles.

One thing to keep in mind is that you should, ideally, have a thumb's width between your toe and the edge of the shoe. If you, like me, fit shoes strangely and never quite exactly, go for the one with a little more space. That way, you will have enough room when you switch to insoles, as they lift the foot up and take up more room than the factory insoles, which are very, very thin even when brand new.

If you have wide feet or even feet like me (duck feet...wide at the toe and narrow at the heel), New Balance and Saucony have some really good options. If you don't, the Hell with you.