Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests Running shoes

A REAL runners store will check out if you pronate or supinate when you run (which refers more or less to whether your feet roll inwards or outwards when your foot plants). If you pronate, or even if you have low arches/flat feet, picking a stability shoe that addresses that WILL make a MAJOR difference on which models you should pick of several brands, and stability would then be just as important as shock absorption and much more important than shoe weight. Some of the preferred stability shoes have been around forever and are not super expensive. (Are the Brooks Beast and NB 580s still around?) And some mfrs don't even make a pronator's stability shoe (Nike has usually skipped that market segment but did make some good models off and on over the years). And trying on a shoe for size/comfort before you buy it is NOT to be skipped, as some mfrs run small (a NB size 11 might fit the same foot as a Nike size 12). I've run at weights of 210 to 240 over the years and I have low arches, doing from 1 mile twice a week to training for 10Ks or more and used Nikes, NBs, Asics, Brooks (and a few I don't recall) and had good and bad to say about all of them. BUT I did notice the NBs seem to break down faster, with cracking of the heel cushioning foam and peeling off of the soles sooner than most others.

And pay attention to what surface you run on if you get bad shin pains.