Your running shoe purchase made simple!

The wrong shoes may lead to injuries such as shin splints, plantar fasciitis, stress fractures, etc.

BEFORE you buy your shoes, ALWAYS look for the following shoe specifications (SEE BELOW for more descriptions):

1) TYPE OF RUNNER (NEUTRAL, STABILITY, OR MOTION CONTROL RUNNING)
2) LAST (inside shape of shoe; STRAIGHT, CURVED, SEMI-CURVED)
3) CUSHIONING (PERFORMANCE, CUSHIONED OR HIGHLY CUSHIONED).

NOTE: IF THE SHOE STORE YOU GO TO LOOKS CONFUSED WHEN YOU MENTION THESE TERMS, YOU ARE GOING TO THE WRONG SHOE STORE!!!!!!


MORE DESCRIPTIONS:

1-2) TYPE OF RUNNER/LASTING is mainly determined by arch type.
i) High arch – Best suited for neutral shoes with curved last (or inside shape of the shoe).
ii) Normal arch – Best suited for stability shoes with semi-curved last.
iii) Flat arch – Best suited for motion control/high stability shoes with straight last.
The shape of your footprint on a wet surface will determine your arch type (AKA the 'wet test'). Runner’s World has a great website for this: http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/news/article.asp?UAN=481.

3) CUSHIONING is mainly determined by running surfaces or events.
i) Races/soft surfaces – Performance shoes: very light, no cushioning, for efficient runners and racing.
ii) Training/concrete running – Cushioned/Highly cushioned shoes: Heavier, lots of cushioning.

More shoe lingo:
"Mysteries of the Running Shoe Revealed" Coolrunning.com

Picking the correct shoe
And even if you do not buy your shoes from these sites, they give you all the info on just about every shoe:
Running Warehouse and Road Runner Sports .