Shoes!

Greetings, readers.  Apologies for the hiatus, but I'm back!  And, now that there's another baby on the ground, ready to give this body a few weeks of rest and get back to training.  I'm itching to hit the pavement again as soon as possible, and this gorgeous weather isn't helping my patience any....

One thing I really love about running is it's portability.  You can run anytime and anywhere.  Running is a cheap sport to get into, aside from registration fees, and involves very little equipment.  Right?  What do you really need to get started?  A pair of good shoes and a few staples of clothing.  I'm here today to talk to you about my favorite part of running gear: shoes.

I've always been a Nike girl.  Before my current pair of shoes, I deviated from Nike only once before and that was to buy a pair of Asics that I fell in love with, mostly based on the colors.  I still love Nike, and I think that they have a great deal to offer as far as variety of shoes goes.  Inspired by a nagging IT band issue, I moved from a more cushioned shoe to the Nike Free.  That, plus loads of IT band stretches and strength exercises, and I have not had a twinge of IT band pain in over 2 years.

From there I "read" (listened to on tape) "Born to Run" and was further inspired (by some, but not all, of the book).  And ultimately made a move to Brooks.  I am now in shoe heaven, and will stay with these shoes as long as they make them without changing them much.

These are the Nikes that I have, and still love: Nike Free Run 2.0 (not the color of mine, but you can search around, they make a bunch of different colors)

And these are the Brooks: Brooks PureCadence

This is what I'll say about running shoes.  Don't cheap out.  Running is a lot of impact on your body, so making the investment in good shoes is going to help prevent injuries.  If you're new the sport, consider going to a running specialty store to get fitted for shoes.  You'll probably want to go up 1/2 to full size from your normal shoe size.  This is important, especially if you love your toenails.  It's not so critical if you plan to stick to shorter distances, but if you are training for half or full marathons, trust me on this one, buy bigger!

Barefoot running is all the craze.  And, to each his own.  But really that just seems insane to me.  Wear something between your foot and the ground.  Please!  Finding the perfect shoe is a little bit of trial and error, and a lot knowing your running style and stride.  This is where getting fitted can come into play.

And, finally, when your shoes are starting to wear out, buy new ones!  I always try to overlap my new shoes with my old shoes.  Please don't make your first run in new shoes your long run day.  Happy shopping!