I am going to buy a new pair of 'proper' shoes today. Found a Running shop called 'Up and Running', never knew it existed! I will get a gait analysis done and get a good pair of 'Brooks' if at all possible as I seem to like the sound of it. We will see.
I spoke to someone in the shop and asked a question. I wanted to know whether I should wear the shoes for while before doing a Race in them and he said that I don't have to. I asked few of my colleagues who do a little running and they said that the salesman would say anything to sell his shoes!
I would like your experience please though, have you bought a pair of new shoes and run a race without using it for more than thrice? I will have 3 days to use them before doing my RfL.
Please help and I would be ever so thankful!
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I ran RFL a few days after getting new shoes (Brooks) and they were great. If you have gait analysis and get shoes you are happy with I think they should be fine.
I recently bought new shoes and it took me one run to get used to them. That said, the new shoes were so completely different to my old pair that it's not surprising I had to acclimatise (old pair were running shoes that I had picked out myself because they were the prettiest in the shop, new pair are ugly and huge but perfect for correcting my over pronating).
I did run with them in the store on the treadmill where they felt fine, but on the track they felt very different to what I was used to in that environment.
I would suggest doing a short run a couple of days before your race just so you get used to the feel of them on your feet. I found it quite off putting to have my feet feel so different while running. Now I wouldn't be without my new shoes though, special insoles and all. They have saved me hours of achy feet!
Thank you Be11adonna..I will be going to the shop in a little while and see how it goes. I just went to their website and found out the shoes I am looking for is much more expensive than the same shoe that I see on Amazon, that is Brooks Ghost, in fact the shop does not have Pink and I rather have Pink as it is girlie and pretty. I wonder whether to go see how they are on me and if shop is not going to give me a good discount, I would rather buy from Amazon, I will save some ££. I am sure if I do the fast delivery it will still come in few days before the Race so I can try them on a run or two beforehand.
I bought a pair of shoes from Up and Running and wore them straight away - no problems! I found the staff very helpful after my son recommended the shop. Got to go back now for shockabsorbers. My husband found the conversation I had with my D-I-L hilarious. He's a bit of a petrol head and can't understand the running stuff at all!
Thank you very much Beek, yes the staff was extremely helpful but I don't think it is too cheeky to buy from Amazon when I found the same pair for half price! I am glad that I have a running shop in oxford as I never knew it existed few days ago!
Thanks AliB1, I went to the shop today, yes it is 'Up and Running'. They did a gait analysis and recommended Brooks Ghost because I really liked them too. I tried them on and jogged a bit and loved them! BUT I did find the same pair for half a price from Amazon so I did not buy the shoes from them and ordered from Amazon and they are supposed to come to me by tomorrow evening. I will run at least thrice in them 5K each before my doing the race on 14th July anyway. I have got a cold now and wonder whether I would be ok by the Race date. This is really frustrating as I started C25K to train to do my RfL even though now I am hooked on running!
Totally understand why u would buy online when cheaper. I have always bought from a shop (sweatshop) coz of returns policy.... Could exchange within 30 days even if used them outside and all muddy. Nice to have the reassurance.
Yes, that is really great when you can return like that! When I did the first Park Run last Saturday I got a voucher from Sweatshop for £15. Sadly we don't have a Sweatshop in Oxford so we were wondering whether to go to Reading which is about an hour's drive. Then I noticed that the voucher expires next day! At the same time I found out about this Up and Running shop from a colleague so settled for that.
It will be very sad when you won't be able to try shoes on and get lots of advice from your local shop and have to rely on seeing them only online without any good advice - it is what will happen when the shop closes due to everyone doing as you did.
Sorry I did not really understand what you meant. Did you mean to say that I should have bought the shoes that was shown to me from the shop even if they were double the price than the ones I can get from on line? I was given the advice but I told them before the advice that I will not buy from them at the time and they were fine with it.I was not under an obligation to buy the shoes from them just because I was given some advice or let me try on the shoes.
Thats great that you told them in advance - of course you weren't under an obligation to buy - perhaps I shouldn't have commented at all - I am sorry. I do worry though about the plight of town centre shops which I love to wander round and actually see things finding it difficult to compete with online selling and going out of business.
I do understand what you mean, you must have said out of love to the shops, but I could not justify buying a pair of shoes for £120 from the shop when I can buy the same pair for £54 from Amazon. I can feel sorry for the shop but they would not feel sorry for me in return and give me a discount, would they?
I called the shop and asked whether they have Brooks shoes before going there (since that was one shoe that a lot of people here recommended) and I also told them I will not buy them then and there when I come to the shop, they were fine with that. When I first went to the shop and trying gait analysis also I told them I will not be buying a pair of shoes but want to know what is best for me and the price. When I got to know the price I thought that I would just have a look on Amazon and here it was smiling at me for 1/2 price!
(I had some annual leave left at the end of my leave year and sold 3 days and thought that I would put the money towards a good pair of shoes. Then when I saw the same pair in Amazon for 1/2 the price I thought I would buy that and use the rest of the money for something else.)
What feels good in the shop may not feel good on a run (I had that experience). I may well buy a replacement pair of my tried and trusted shoes (the ones I got after exchanging the first pair) online but you'd have to decide how cheap unknown shoes would have to be to be worth taking the risk of them not working out in practice. (I have bought Brooks Green Silence online and Vivobarefoot in a discount shop because the price was low enough)
Have to say though, if I'd been buying with my eyes I'd never have bought my best shoes.
Thank you GoogleMe, my 'old' pair is still in good condition, it was just that I thought that I would invest on a new pair of shoes, a present to me for doing a Park Run last week (and about to do one today too!). So when I get my new shoes, I will try them on for couple of days, make sure that they feel as good or better as my present pair does, if only they are so, I will use them. I think it is quite easy for me to get shoes as I got my present pair just by trying in the shop, never ran in them, never knew I had to do that!
I also got my shoes from Up and Running but the shop has now closed down .They were very helpful and had a good selection and I tried on lots of different ones but settled on a pair of Mizuno .They are fantastic and just feel like the most comfortable pair of slippers but with support in all the right places. I'm sure they make me run better but that might just be all in my head.
I wore them straight away but had only just started the program but had no problems.
Good luck for Race for Life ( doing mine on the 28/7/13) xx
Thank you for your message plodalong, I am not sure whether I tried on Mizuno at the shop, but have heard that they are really good too. I did try few different shoes though, some were too narrow for my feet and Brooks felt quite good. Can't wait to get my new shoes now and I will do some walking tomorrow and a run day after in them. 3 Runs before RfL will do hopefully, 5K each!
Good luck to you for your RfL on the 28th! Have you done it before? This is my 1st. I have raised £621 so far and soo pleased, now all I got to do is RUN! x
Good luck with the RFL you will have fun it is a great day.
I read somewhere that you should get new running shoes every 200 miles or so many months, I found that doing yoga has improved my posture and my running shoes are lasting longer, but I still only pay minimal price for them (under £10) I cannot justify hundreds of pounds every few months and as long as they are comfortable well that's half the battle
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