Run This Way

Chad started mentioning in early December that he was in the market for new shoes. Now we are slow movers in the Cheeky house; a lot of time tends to go by between the realisation that we need to get/change something and the thing actually happening. So, as we discussed at length what his preferred shoe store was,  Fate intervened in the shape of a Groupon from The Running Company.

And we are so glad that she (Fate is a woman, right?) did.

Firstly, I can't get enough of running stores. Our previous city of residence doesn't have any, so I'm like the proverbial kid in a candy store, except that I'm a runner in a running store, which is worse. The Running Company is a relatively new shop in downtown Austin, and among its many virtues are a knowledgeable staff, excellent customer service, and-- get this-- free showers. Yep, if you go for a run on Town Lake and don't want to drive home sweaty, The Running Company has showers available for use. Brilliant.

The beloved Mizunos

They also offer gait analysis, which may be one of the coolest things ever. Even though the shoes were for Chad, not me, she got neutral shoes out for both of us to try it. I put the shoes on, hopped on the treadmill, and ran for 10 seconds. And then we watched the video in über-slow-motion, to see that I am an overpronater (fortunately, my beloved Mizunos fix that problem for me). Chad had pretty much the same result, so our intrepid salesgirl went to the back and emerged with a huge stack of shoes for Chad to try on. She did so needlessly, as it turns out, because my husband is not a good shopper; he more or less settled on the very first pair he tried on. Once he got them on we headed back to the treadmills to look at his gait again.

Whoa, what a difference! After he recorded 10 seconds in the pronation-correcting shoes, we watched the two videos side-by-side, and it was crazy how much the right pair of shoes fixed his form. I know from experience that the same thing happened to me when I got my new Mizunos, but since I didn't get to see my results on video, it was considerably less shocking.

So, the moral of the story is: When buying new running shoes, choose a store with gait analysis. And just to get the ball rolling, tell us about your favourite pair of shoes (running or otherwise!) in the comments.