Running Shoe Woes

New Kicks

This is the story of my year-long attempts at buying good running shoes, that (hopefully) FINALLY came to fruition this afternoon.  Last fall I picked up a pair of Asics running shoes at Kohls one evening after school on sale.  I didn't put a whole lot of thought into them--I'll admit that I picked a pair that looked cute (I know, I know...) and felt alright!  However, after wearing them at school the next day, I HATED them because they were rubbing my right ankle bone like crazy!  Obviously they went back to the store soon after.  (Well, actually they sat in the box in my room until June when I finally returned them.  Thank you, Kohls, for having the loosest return policy ever!!!)

Anyways, after failing at choosing shoes on my own, and after I decided that a half-marathon was in my near future, I took the matter to the experts.  I visited my friendly local running store and asked them to put me in the shoes that would be right for me.  They told me that I over-pronate (walking in on your arches) and sold me a motion-control shoe to stabilize my feet when I run.  Okay, wrap them up!  I wore them for two days before having the same problem with my ankle bone again.  So weird, because I've never felt that in shoes until the past year.  I was able to fix that by lacing them a little differently, and the shoes felt great.  For awhile...

In early August I felt that CRIPPLING pain in my shin that ended up being a tibial stress fracture (which I won't bore you about anymore, I promise!!).  Since I hadn't upped my mileage or changed ANYTHING about my running (distance, surface, etc.) other than the shoes, I attribute the injury at least partially to the fact that I was put in motion control shoes after running for years in neutral (regular) shoes.  Oh dear...Running Store, you led me SO very astray!!!  Anyways, the shoes were packed up in the box and stuck in the corner of my bedroom for a few months...

Today I finally dusted off the box and headed back to the running store.  While they didn't automatically agree with me that the shoes caused that problem, they did agree to exchange them for a neutral shoe.  The sales person who was fitting me though DID look at my gait (watch me walk) and was surprised that I'd been put in motion control shoes in the first place, since she didn't think I was pronating too terribly much.  *shakes head* Man, to think that just a different sales person back in July could have prevented the past 4 months of tibia drama!

In any case, these are my new Nike ZOOM Vomero shoes.  They feel great just walking around the house, but I hope they feel as good when I run in them.  I'm taking off running for a little longer, until I can get back to the orthopedist, but am looking forward to trying them out on a walk sometime this week.  Phew.  Hopefully I have NO MORE posts about the agonies of running shoe shopping, and that these shoes last me for at least awhile!