Hi there, team coach Alexa here.
I am getting a lot of questions in some of the Facebook groups I am part of, but also from my one-to-one runners at the moment. Maybe it is the fact that people have got bigger spring marathons coming up, and whether now is the time, if you are thinking of changing your shoes before a big race.
A couple of months at least in advance is usually a good time to start doing it, unless you are buying a similar pair again or something like that where you really need to.
So I thought I would share some very simple, straightforward advice for finding some running shoes that work best for you.
Prioritise Fit and Comfort
Go for fit and comfort.
If you can, please try to go somewhere that has a lot of running shoes on offer in a bricks and mortar shop or a place you can visit where you can try loads on. That way you can find the ones that really work for you based on those two criteria, fit and comfort.
When Specific Shoe Types Might Matter
There are some situations where you might be recommended a specific category of shoe, like a stability shoe for example, from somebody knowledgeable who has done some gait analysis or worked with you as a coach or as a physiotherapist.
You might also, like I have at the moment, be dealing with some very tricky conditions out on the trails with all the mud, slipperiness and rain. So I am spending a lot of my time in shoes that have really decent lugs on the bottom to grip into the mud and that are waterproof, or Gore-Tex, to try and keep my feet as relatively dry as long as possible.
The Overwhelming Choice of Modern Running Shoes
Even within those specific criteria we might need within shoe selection, there is a bafflingly large array of choice out there. That includes maximalist and minimalist cushioning, stability, drop, carbon plates, or other energy recovery systems. There is all sorts of different stuff.
But throughout all of those options, the two most important criteria remain the same.
What the Research Actually Shows
Some decent sized studies have now shown that finding the best shoe for you as an individual comes down to comfort and fit.
I see people asking questions in Facebook groups like, what shoes would you recommend? They get loads of different answers back for different pairs and types of shoes that each individual respondent prefers and gets on with.
That is great, but it is not particularly useful in terms of you finding the best shoe for you. Just because it is the best shoe for them, or they think it is the best shoe for them, does not mean it is going to be the best shoe for you.
Why I Cannot Recommend a Specific Shoe
I also cannot recommend you a particular brand or make of shoe because it is incredibly dependent on comfort and fit.
So go and try some on. Also, support our local bricks and mortar running shops. If we do not, they will disappear eventually, and then we will have nowhere to go to try on running shoes and find the best shoes for ourselves.
Hope that is useful. Happy running.
