Running Shoes….Mizuno’s Run Narrow?!

True I am a bit behind on some of my posts, the wee one had to have surgery so while she was healing I have not had much time for blogging.

In the midst of training for my marathons and other races this year, it has come time to replace the old pair of trusty duds for a new pair. I have worn many a shoe through my running days. For quite some time I was very happy with my Nike shoes with the Nike+ iPod setup. After I purchased my Garmin watch I realized that I could buy any running shoe on the market, I was no longer tied done with the sensor for my Nikes. (I could have bought a shoe pouch but was too cheap).

So I branched out and bought a pair of Saucony’s, a running partner wore them and had previously worn Nike’s she thought that Saucony shoes were much better.

I have had some luck with these shoes, but lost a few toenails, and am thinking they might be just a bit to narrow. Especially after pounding pavement in the July heat and my feet swelling.

When I wore Nike shoes I was buying them in a wide, and just was at the local sports store yesterday looking for my old friend size 9 Wide and they were MIA.

I had gone for a quick purchase at Old Navy for their Give and Get 30% sale and realized I could get shoes from the Pipelimes site so I ordered these bad girls:

Mizuno Wave Rider 7

These came in a wide, and after Free Shipping and my reward codes I scored them for $20!! I am hoping these will eliminate any toenail damage, they seem to have good reviews and I will have plenty of training miles on them before the first big day!!

It seems that I have a history of trial and error with running shoes, this can be expensive and frustrating.

One thing that helps is to know a little about your feet.

What is your arch type? High? Low? Neutral?

Are you running long distance? You may need a 1/2 size bigger than normal especially if running in the heat.

Do you have wide/narrow feet? If you have wider feet to begin with a wide shoe may help if running long distance?

Do you over/under pronate?

Answer to the above questions can lead you in the direction of a best fit shoe for your feet.

What shoes have you had the best luck with? How did you decide on this shoe?

Marathons on the Calendar

I just signed up to run the Med City Marathon on May 29, 2011, the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, and the Mankato Marathon on October 22, 2011.

Both of these races will be paced by the Minnesota Pacers, already I am anxious. After running my first full marathon last October in the Mankato Marathon I know the time and effort that goes into training. There is no better feeling that crossing the finish line and knowing that all the effort was worth it…but 2…in one year. I am always trying to challenge myself so instead of making a pace goal I made another race goal. To complete 2 full marathons this year. It will take an immense amount of training. I will post my training plan for the Med City as soon as I get it planned out.

In between marathons I will continue a race per month but probably no more than a 1/2 marathon. Not sure what the training will look like in between also, I may focus more on cross training and maintain one long run per week.