Much to my dismay, I’ve actually started to like (gasp!) running and have gotten pretty good at it (double gasp!), so this past weekend I decided to go to Fleet Feet to get fitted for a pair of running shoes. I didn’t have any expectations, but at the very least I’d walk away with some new shoes, which I needed anyway.
The whole process began with a measurement of my feet and arches — while sitting and standing. A test run determined how my foot comes in contact the ground and how the power was being redistributed. It turns out that I tend to land on the interior of my foot and push off with the exterior. With that in mind, three pairs of shoes were selected for me, along with insoles to help support the arch. This shoe + insole combo helps position my foot to land correctly and redistributes the power in a way that’s more effective (aka: uses less energy). I was instructed to try on each pair and to take them for a test run — narrowing down the choices as I went along. They have a good description of the process on their website, too.
I decided on the Mizuno Wave Inspire 6 Road Running Shoes and a pair of Super Feet insoles. The whole thing only set me back $150, which is less expensive than I anticipated. All in all, a good experience — but do professionally-fitted shoes really make a difference?
Fast forward to this morning. I wake up feeling pretty shitty, but decide to lace up my new kicks anyway and jump on the treadmill. As a test, I boost the speed to .2 MPH faster than I normally run. I hit the 2 mile mark and realize that my legs aren’t sore. Cool. Even more surprising, my Polar watch is reading a lower BPM than usual for this distance, even though I’ve been running at a faster speed. All things said and done, I ended up shaving aboutt 2 minutes off of my usual 5k time, all without breaking 185 on my heart rate monitor.
Could it be the shoes? Could all the salesy marketing talk the rep at Fleet Feet was giving me really be true? Sure seems that way.
It’s gotta be the shoes.
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