Running shoes

[Poetryinaction]

People tell me that going to a running shop, getting an assessment and buying the right shoes is important. So why don't sport shops have shoes in sections for overpronators, neutral and underpronators?
How important is it to buy the right ones? I don't have time for all of this, so I looked at the wear pattern on all my shoes and guessed I overpronate a bit. Is it possible to buy a running shoe online for this, and what happens if I get it wrong? Any comments welcome!

It depends how seriously you want to take your running.

Say you just do the occasional run to get out the house or for general fitness. Just buy a pair of running trainers.

If you’re interested in signing up to races and beating your best times etc then definitely go to a running shop.

This is said from experience. I wore bog standard running trainers and the more I ran I started to get pains. These pains ended up in a full blown injury.
I had to see physios and podiatrists then once healed (and at their recommendation) I went to a running shop to have my gait analysed and they helped me pick the best trainers for me.

Doing so I managed some really good milestones (half marathons, 5K PB, 10K PB etc)

When those shoes wore out (after about 500 miles of wear) I switched back to cheap ones (I was skint) and once again my injury came back.

Anyway. Bought good ones again and I’m doing well. Just done a 10k race this morning in fact.

Good makes are Brooks, ASICS, Saucony.

Great advice from Unleash.

Another tip is that many shoe companies remake the shoes each season and just update the colour. Once you know what shoe is best for you you can buy last year's model online with a discount of 25-50%.

Oh, I assumed that you could buy those types of shoes. I went to have my running gait analysed and found that I overpronate. I bought a pair in that running shop, but assumed that I could, from now on buy running shoes for overpronation from any sports shop without the faff of re analysing the feet. How annoying!

The shoes' descriptions should tell you if neutral or supportive. If you've not checked online, then shop staff will be able to tell you, assuming you are in a running shop. Decathlon staff vary in kniwledge and experience. Other chains often do not have staff with this level of knowledge.

Agree that once you know what brands and levels of support you get on with, you can buy online confidently. Otherwise stick to somewhere with a good returns policy (try Wiggle)

Runners Need do free no-obligation fair analysis, so if you have one handy, that's a good place to start

So why don't sport shops have shoes in sections for overpronators, neutral and underpronators?

They do

I get every third pair of running shoes fitted, in between I buy them online,,save model. Often significantly cheaper in old seasons colours or something. Amazon is good for this.

Sportshoes.com let’s you filter on the type of support you want, but not all running shoes are equal. Some are bigger/smaller forbtgeur size, wider foot, wider toe box, pivot in a different place (I used to love New Balance 860w shoes, had 3 or 4 pairs, then they changed the sole unit and they just didn’t feel right anymore, and I went to Brooks Adrenaline).