New Shoes...

I hate shoe shopping. I'm one of those "wear it till water gets in" type of shoe guys. I have a pair of work shoes, two pairs of smart shoes and two pairs of casual shoe-type-trainers. Shoes do nothing for me and the thought so having to go shoe shopping are right up there with going to the dentist. Shoes just bore me. 

I see a shoe as a functional item of clothing, necessary to protect your feet as you move from one location to another (usually from the couch to the car). The one exception to this rule however is when it comes to running shoes. The first pair I got were bought for me by my other half, and as I clocked up the miles I suddenly became aware of the fact the shoes have a road life which becomes more and more apparent when the cushioning starts to wear and your shoe starts smelling!

I remember reading that a good running shoe should last between 400-600 miles (here) but most places quote around the 500 mark. I track the distance I put into my running shoes on my Nike Running app as you can select the shoes you ran in. I'm coming to the end of my shoe life and it will be with great sadness that I hang these shoes up :( I bought them in advance of the Connemara marathon back in April and they gave me most of my PBs this summer.

My most recent run - 514 miles logged on my Brooks Ravenna 4

These were the 2nd pair of Brooks I'd worn through so when it came to getting a new pair, I knew I wanted to stay the same. I've read a bit about sole depth when it comes to runners but I've been happy with the extra padding. I've no reason to believe this to be a requirement other than I like the cushioning, so when it came to getting a new pair, I said I'd turn to the professionals instead of picking a pair by colour/price!

I went into Amphibian King in Oranmore last month and the guys (and girl) in there put me through my paces. They have a mat on the floor there to perform gait analysis so it was interesting to try on different shoes and run in them. I had my eyes on a pair of red shoes which I thought would go well with my new pair of red running shots but I was told another pair were a better fit as I wasn't moving around in the shoe as much.

This is the sort of advice I needed - its no mistake they are nominated for the Irish Times Shop of the Year. Happy out with my new Brooks Adrenaline GTS 14, I left a happy man ready to start clocking up miles in my new shoes :) I'll keep my older shoes to work up to moving to my new ones full time. Its always handy to have an older pair anyway, just for those days when it's lashing out and you know you'll get wrecked. You've no excuse when you have a spare!

New shoes...

Last Monday, I laced up my new runners and headed out for my first run in them and CJ approves (or thought he was coming with me!). I wonder where these shoes will take me!