Shoe Day

Today   was a great day because it was shoe day.  I love shoe day.  Even though  it means I will shell out some money and probably too much.  It is really the only shopping I like to do.

Usually I buy my shoes online, but I do periodically go to my local running store to buy shoes or apparel.  It is important to me to support the local running stores because they do much more than just sell me shoes.  They provide services such as group runs and race sign ups. They are also a great source of information and I try to take advantage of shoe day to tap into that information.

So, I was put an a machine that measured, by heat signature, how my feet touched the ground while standing still.  Next, I was put on a treadmill and we made a video recording while I ran.  It showed my foot strike from the back at ground level.  This was very cool to see because try  and try again I cannot bend over backwards to see that while I run. But I must say that when I run on the treadmill, which I find extremely boring, I know that I have a different stride that when I do my normal running outside.  That said, it is still cool to do and go through the motions with my running annalist.

Then I got to try on five different pairs of shoes, one at a time, and go outside for a test run.  Now that is fun, to test the shoes out one after another.  You really get a feel for the shoe and what the manufacturer is trying to do.  The differences in some is very subtle like the level of cushion between the New Balance 840 and the Brooks Ghost.  During just a regular run cycle, wearing one model a day, I would not be able to tell that while quite similar, the Ghost has a little more cushion in the forefoot. For me, that kind of thing is fun to discover and only done with this kind of test.  I even put one of the Brooks on and one of the New Balance on and ran that way.  Cool huh! Never would I do that at home (unless by accident and then it would probably be my work shoes that I would only discover it after I got to work).

During the shoe day road tests I had a great opportunity to talk about shoe technology and ask questions.  A lot goes into the design and build of shoes and I expect that with the costs of shoes. I want to see a progression of design and feel.  There are some great looking and feeling shoes out and I can't help but get a little excited about them. Of course, I see some that seem pretty silly and some ugly ones too.

For a runner, shoe day is a fun day full of thrills and information.  But it comes at a cost.

What do you think?
Zippy