My Running Shoe Search

As most of you know and for those that don’t go here, I suffer from Shin issues. I have tried resting; changing my stride, getting new shoes, and even barefoot running (don’t try this if you have shin splints…OUCH!). After three months of pain and having to severely limit my running, I am desperate for a solution. So last Thursday I decided to go and get fitted for a new pair of shoes in the chance that the ones I was wearing were the problem. So I headed over to one of my local running stores and we went through the process of my fitting.


The first thing that surprised me was that Caleb (the guy who fitted me) said my feet were not wide. The last time I got fitted for shoes I was told I had wide feet and was given an Extra Wide shoe. When I expressed my shock and disbelief at the fact that my feet were a normal width (I have thought for a couple of years now that I had freakishly wide feet) Caleb put me back on the scale and showed me again. WOW! My feet measured normal, ha I do not have troll feet!!! This made me very happy and opened a lot of shoe doors for me, but I am still a skeptic and wonder if this could be really true. After I ran barefoot on the treadmill to check out my gait I started trying on several shoes and running in them. I was a little concerned that they all felt a little tight. Caleb assured me that they fit and I was just use to swimming in my other shoes, which was most likley the cause of my blisters too. I finally decided on a pair and then was talked into getting some inserts for my arch that apparently rolls in and could be the cause of my shin splints. Caleb showed me the video of me running and explained how the way I was landing could cause my shin splints, and like I said I am desperate at this point and will try anything so I took them.

Later that day I went for a run in my new kicks (Brooks Ariel Medium Width). After about 2 miles my right foot started to hurt so I loosened up the shoe as much as I could and pushed through to 2.5 miles. At this point I was back to my car so I left the park and was very disappointed in my new shoes. On the drive home I decided that I really did not give them a chance and then hit the treadmill for another 2 miles when I got home. They really did not bother me much on the treadmill so I decided to try them out one more time before I took them back. The next planned run was an 8 miler and I thought that would be a great distance to try out the shoes. Well I got sick this weekend and never did get my long run in so I tried them out today. I planned to do a 5 mile run so I went to the park and took off. About 2 miles in to the run my feet were killing me, I mean really killing me and not just one both. I stopped to walk a bit then tried to run again, they hurt so bad I ended up limping back to the car. So these shoes are a flop, I am going to get them in a wider width and see how they work, and I may just take those inserts out too.

Why does finding my perfect running shoe have to be so hard? Is it too much to ask for a shoe that fits, and does not hurt my feet or give me blisters?