Yearning for the one pair of shoes that served you best in 2008? Scouring every website for them only to find the world’s moved on to newer, younger models?
Becoming a running shoe widow affects more people that you might believe. It often stems from years of great memories, with that faithful shoes supporting you every step of the way. Other shoes just don’t feel right: too firm, too flimsy, too heavy, too flashy. You’ve come to the conclusion that nothing else will ever compare.
But relying on a single pair of shoes can create long-term problems. More than often, the technology in a running shoe can make your foot conditioned to move in that one pathway of motion. A change in running shoe would alter the foot’s relationship with the ground and cause the foot, ankle and calf to perform differently. And, over time, this is likely to cause injuries.
What can you do? Play the field. Instead of sticking faithfully to one shoe, rotate a number of models from the offset. Although this might sound insensitive at first, particularly if you’re in the early stages of mourning, it’s the healthiest thing to do.
Allowing your feet to experience life with different running shoes will help them to strengthen. Condition outside of your normal routine is a vital part of injury-free running; shoe choice should be no different.
So rotate your shoes every other run, remembering to reduce the mileage to allow for adjustment time. It may initially feel hard to build a new, trusting relationship, but embrace and enjoy your new life. It’s what your old shoes would want.
Mitchell Phillips is director of StrideUK, one of the UK’s leading running technique analysis companies strideuk.com
