Buying the Right Shoes

Wearing proper shoes for different types of running is vital. There are three different types of shoes that should be worn. For easy days and long runs, daily trainers work fine. For tempo runs, hill workouts, and races longer than 10k light weight trainers are the best choice. For track workouts and races shorter than 10k racing flats work great.

Daily trainers are the shoes that you will run the most mileage in. Make sure that your daily trainers are comfortable. I believe that all shoes should be comfortable right out of the box. The daily trainers that I wear fit so great that I am not afraid to run a 20 miler the first time I wear them. Shoes that need to be broke in are probably not the right type of shoe for your feet. Find out what type of foot that you have and then only purchase shoes that fall into that category.

Light weight trainers are great shoes for faster paced training. For tempo runs and hill workouts light weight trainers are the ticket. Light weight trainers have adequate cushioning and support to protect your feet and still are light enough for faster paced running. Be careful when buying light weight trainers. Make sure that you purchase the correct type for your type of feet.

Another great thing about light weight trainers is that they are light enough and stable enough for longer races. I personally wear trainers for half and full marathons. My own experience has been that my feet never hurt after half marathons, finishing a full marathon everything hurts. I would still recommend wearing light weight trainers for these race distances.

Racing flats are very light weight, usually less than 9 0z. Be careful with racing flats, finding the correct fit is extremely important. Don’t always purchase the lightest pair that you can find. I prefer racing flats with some support and cushioning. A few ounces of cushion and support are always better than becoming injured just to save 10 or 15 seconds in a 5k.

I personally would not recommend wearing racing flats in races longer than 10k. I have worn racing flats in a couple of half marathons and my feet were sore for days afterwards. Since I have worn light weight trainers exclusively my feet never hurt afterwards.

The most popular time to wear racing flats is during track workouts. The feeling of wearing light weight shoes during fast paced workouts is what makes racing flats so popular. I personally like to wear racing flats during all of my track workouts. There are others who wear racing flats only for a race. Choose which time works best for you.

There is a lot of discussion surrounding a person’s body weight and shoe selection. I am 6’1 and weigh 180lbs, so being a larger runner I still wearing light weight trainers and racing flats. I would recommend that each person decide for themselves if they want to wear lighter shoes.