Right from the start of this morning’s run, I felt that something was wrong. I was feeling an unusual amount of aching in my ankles and shins. As much as I wanted to run faster, the aching feeling was making me slow down considerably. Sure, along the way I warmed up enough allowing me to move while ignoring the obvious discomfort, but it wasn’t good at all. I ended up getting back 3 minutes later than my usual time which is sort of disappointing, but what can you do, right?
So, when I got back, I spoke to the course instructor and said that it’s probably really time for me to get new shoes, which is what I’ve been suspecting for a while now. I guess it just took unnecessary discomfort to really push me in the right direction. I spoke to the store manager and asked for help choosing a shoe. In my current 858′s she immediately recognized that I was over-pronating. That’s interesting to me because the shoes are supposed to have a good amount of stability to correct that kind of thing. Obviously they weren’t doing their job. I suggested that I might need a 4E width, and after seeing my feet planted on the ground she sort of agreed. Unfortunately for me, in order to get a 4E, it would have to be a special order, costing me $20 to get it in store with a 4-6 week wait time. And if the shoes didn’t work out, I’d be out of that extra cash. I didn’t want to go that route. Things weren’t looking good.
With the knowledge that the Beasts are good candidates, I asked her to show me the shoe. I tried them on, and after a few steps she told me that I was still pronating considerably. The course instructor came by and agreed that they didn’t seem right. They weren’t doing a great job for my feet. I was really starting to get frustrated. After some thought, the manager pulled out a pair of Asics in a 2E width and had me try them out. Immediately I thought they were kind of narrow, but when I stood up and walked around, I noticed that I was actually being corrected properly. The course instructor took a look and said that they were a lot better. He had me adjust the lacing differently from how I had it, and the feeling improved even more. I was shocked.
I was sort of worried though about my feet kind of bulging out at the sides, but the manager said that my arches were being supported–the part that was over the shoe wasn’t that important. My instructor mused that I just had chubby feet. Ha! Agreed. These things hugged my feet nicely. It’s almost counter-intuitive. All this time I was thinking that I needed wider shoes. My instructor pointed out though that with my 858′s I was tying the laces far too tight to the point where the two sides being laced were almost meeting. That was an indicator to him that having a wider shoe might not be right for my case. I didn’t even realize it until he pointed it out–but it’s all true.
So, alright. I purchased the shoes. I now have Asics GT-2130. I’m going to give them a go on the treadmill for 20 minutes or so to see if they’re truly good enough, but really, I’m just happy that there seems to be hope that I’m going to be able to put these foot issues to rest.
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