running shoes

ZiggyStardust

Hi, I was wondering what a good pair of running shoes for say a 10k or half marathon. I see alot of the top athletes wearing Asics shoes. Are these the best and which ones. What about Nike Pegasus???
Any help?

Cheers.

cavedave

With running shoes you should go with what's comfortable. My experience is as a jogger and a shoe salesman. I'd recomend
1. Change your shoes as soon as they lose support. One day your shoes feel really comfortable, usually around the 1000 mile mark. Stop running in them and just use them for lazing around at this point.
2. As far as brands go
Nike are narrow and I wouldn't/couldn't wear then
Reebok have good cushioning but little lateral stability. If your slightly overweight and don't run more then 40km a week these might be a good bet.
Asics are great shoes. they don't suit everyone but if they're comfortable for you..
3. Buy 2/3 pairs of a shoe you like. If your running regularly shoes last miles not time. If you give the shoe a day to reform its shape you get abit further out of them.
4. If your lucky enough to live in an area with clean grass fields try running in your feet. You won't be able to run the marathon like this but its fun and healthy. Feel free to start a flame war if you disagree :-)
Hope this helps and listen to the better runners here before me.
dave

DaveH

Your better off starting running in sand when your running bare feet and only running for a short period and building it up say,
Monday. 1 minute
Tuesday 2.minutes
Wednesday 3 Minutes
Thursday 4 minutes
and so, just building it up
and make sure its clean sand, same running bare foot in the park, make sure theres no stones, etc, you'll cut your feet up badly.

My cousin cut his feet up really badly, he didnt run for a year because of it! He's still not back at it as much as he was.

cavedave

Soft sand is very hard on the achilles tendon so your probably better not running on it.
The evidence says that a do short distances hard then rest *rinse repeat program is the quickest way to get fit
http://www.serpentine.org.uk/advice/coach/fh55.php
David

Enduro

Back to the origal question.....

Find out what kind of feet you have. Are you an over/under pronator, or a neutral runner. Look up sites like www.runnersworld.com. www.runningtimes.com, www.runnersworld.co.uk for information about foot types and shoe types. Buy a type of shoe for the category that is designed to fit your feet. This really should be the basic starting point.

the majority of Nike shoes are strictly for fashion victims. Don't buy Nike unless you've done your research and you know your buyinh a pair of proper running shoes. Having said that, the best pair of shoes I ever owned were Nike. I wear pretty much exclusively Asics these days, as they are proper running shoes (for the most part), and can be picked up very cheaply at sales times.

Just to re-iterate what someone else implied.. when you do find a pair of shoes that you like (after running in them) buy a second pair and alternate them. It allows each pair a good recovery time.

silverside

asics are good. most club athletes wear asics. new balance are good as well.

go to a good running shop to see what suits your foot type and running style.
dont go somewhere like champion that (quote) "don't do half sizes" :rolleyes:

try arnotts or mick dowling sportsworld in terenure.

Amz

Champion, Lifestyle etc. are purely "sports fashion" shops, I wouldn't buy any sports equipment from them.

With regard to running shoes, up until very recently I had only ever used Asics and found them to be very good. I bought a pair of New Balance in January as I needed some extra support and cushioning, as I have started doing more road running as the grass track near my house does not have lighting in the evening when I train and is generally quite badly waterlogged at this time of year. I find the New Balance to be very good, but I can see why some people may not like them.

I would advise that you find out what foot type you have and what requirements you have as a result and then go and speak to someone "in the know". Mick Dowling - Sportsworld is excellent.

Arnotts can be quite good, but you could be unlucky, I would advise going there at quieter times, i.e. not around Sales.

If you're near Maynooth, the sports shop near Tesco used to do a good range of running shoes and spikes and the staff knew their stuff, not sure if that's still the case as I haven't been there in a while.

DaveH

I bought my last two pairs of road shoes in Champion, both adidas. Got the same pair in December last, because I like the one's I had. Of course when it came to Spikes, it was Arnotts, the nike spikes they brought out were a load of B**L! So got nice pair of Asics, or as me da said when I showed him them "TIGER!"

back to form

have a look at the wear and tear on ur runners.most people pronate latteraly
which means they need a runner which supports and corrects you from keeping your foot neutral.
addidas do good runners to support you from inverting.asics kayano is probably my fav as it does every thing.
nike would be down my list but are improving and they make great racing flats and spikes.go to john Buckleys or arnotts for advice.

thebuyer

cavedave gave some great advice...you might also check out the latest issue of Irish Runner magazine which has a buyers guide for current running shoes.
Also have a look at the post in this forum on where to buy running shoes for dates of brand promotions.............................

MiddleDistance

Previously I used to over pronate and if you asked me then the only runners I'd wear were Asics (in particular Kayono). However after a few injuries I found when I returned running I began under pronated (I now tended to run on the outside of my foot), although the Kayono still seem to work I got a pair of Asics DS-Trainer cheap in a sale, these prevously didn't suit my foot howver now they felt better than the Kayono. Realising this I did a bit of research and decided to experiment with a pair of Nike Skylon (they've a bit more support than the DS Trainer). Now I vary (depending on the time of year) between the three shoes.

This may have been stated previously, do a bit of research (your own research!) into what type of foot-strike, arch...you have. Ask people you know for advice, don't take it as the Bible's truth, they're shoes may not suit you. And another piece of advice, don't always believe that once you've found the 'perfect' shoe, it will be always be perfect for you. Check that you're running style is still consistent with what you thought your style was (especially after an injury). Another important fact, change your runers regularly, every 2-3 months if doing more than 30 miles a week.