Buying new shoes: like a kid in a candy store

I went to a running store for the first time about six years ago. This was before I started running. My friend, Chuck, who would later convince me to start running, was trying to convince me to start running. We went to a store and tried on shoes.

After watching me run around in different shoes, the shoe person told me I over-pronated and would need a stability shoe. For the uninitiated, an over-pronator is a person, often flat-footed, whose feet roll inward (toward each other) during the footstrike, collapsing and stressing the ankles, legs, and knees. A stability shoe is built to correct this problem. The recommendation: Asics GT-2070. I was very happy with these shoes because I rarely ran in them.

I would use the Asics GT series for the next several years. I was happy with them, but not ecstatic. I always felt that there must be a shoe that fit me better, that would be a little more comfortable. I never found it. Until today. What I didn't realize until a few weeks ago was that I was looking at the wrong kind of shoe.

My epiphany came at the Pacific Shoreline Marathon's running expo. The RoadRunner Sports booth had a pressure-sensitive pad connected to a PC. Just for kicks, I asked for analysis. To my surprise, the shoe guy told me (and graphically showed me) that I don't have flat feet. They just look flat. Moreover, I wasn't a severe over-pronator, as I had thought. I was more neutral. In fact, one of my feet seemed to supinate (roll outward). I'd been looking at the wrong shoes for years. I decided it was time for new shoes.

Today I hit the brick-and-mortar RoadRunner in Anaheim. I grabbed my son, my last two pairs of running shoes, and my thickest, thinnest and middle-of-the-road socks. After a one-hour drive, I arrived shoes in hand and son in tow.

It started badly. All the shoe reps were busy with others. I waited 45 minutes. During that time, three other sets of people walked into the store and were helped while I sat patiently, then not so patiently. They knew I was there. I had helped one of the reps answer another customer's question. But still they helped others.

I picked up my shoes and decided to walk out. Before I took a step, a friendly young salesman asked if I'd been helped. I tried to temper my annoyance when I explained I'd been waiting almost an hour. He kept a positive attitude.

I told him a brief history and showed him my shoes. He looked at the wear and confirmed that I wasn't over-pronating. He showed me how all the wear on my shoes was on the outside edge of the sole. There was very little wear on the inside, near my arch. This indicated that my foot was rolling slightly outward, not inward. Ideal wear would be in the middle of the shoe.

We tried on a lot of shoes, primarily Asics. I tried on the Cumulus, the Nimbus, the Speedstar and, last but not least, the flagship Kinsei. Definitely not least--the Kinseis were probably the most expensive shoes in the store. There were a lot of other shoes, but I can't remember them all. My buying experience was getting a lot better. The salesman was knowledgeable, friendly, and patient.

Almost all the shoes felt great. I ran inside, outside, and around in circles. I liked them all, but it came down to the Cumulus (the cheapest of my choices) and the Kinsei. The salesman and I went outside so he could watch me run in the Speedstars. These were the lightest and least stable of the shoes, but I was looking at them for races and speedwork.

He watched me for a couple of minutes, running back and forth in front of the store. His diagnosis: I was almost neutral, but my right side over-pronated slightly. His two suggestions: use an over-pronation insert with a neutral shoe or buy the Kinsei, which was a neutral/stability tweener.

I couldn't help myself. Because the Kinseis fit like a glove and looked super-geeky-cool, I took 'em. They were ridiculously expensive, but the salesman said they'll last 600 miles. We'll see if that's true. Also, my sticker-shock is temporary because I won't have to pay retail next time I buy them.

I've been wearing them around the house for 4 1/2 hours now. They still feel great. I can't wait to hit the road with them, faster than ever.