RRT & Shoes

Last night, I had the privilege to be a co-host on the Runner's Round Table #36, where we interviewed Charlie Colpaert from Fleet Feet Sports in Chicago. It was an interesting and informative episode. I brought up an issue I hadn't really talked about on this blog, and that was my poor choice of training shoes several years ago. I wore Nike shoes through the mid-90s. Then I switched to Brooks. Brooks Beast, to be precise. As you know, I'm not a big guy. Brooks Beast is for big runners. Big runners who have low arches and pronate. I have high arches and underpronate. So why did I choose the Beast? Well, the key word in the previous sentence is "I"...as in "I didn't get professional advice" before buying them. I have a runner friend who is a larger runner and I believe he wore them. I was having issues with my right knee and IT band and figured I needed more stability to address the problem. I didn't do my homework, obviously. I stayed in that model for 3 or 4 pair and ended up really messing myself up. I think it was the main contributing factor in my demise as a runner a few years ago. I still have yet to get a gait analysis by a shoe expert, but I did much more research (EDIT: and was advised by my good friend and ultra-runner extraordinaire Arthur Martineau) before buying my current shoes, the Brooks Defyance 2, which are much more suited to my feet and legs. I still have some minor IT band issues (mostly some occasional hip discomfort), but I can tell these shoes have made a major difference in my "running resurrection"! Check out the podcast if you get a chance, and pop in every Wednesday, usually at 4pm EST.