How to Find the Perfect Running Shoe This Spring

Spring Lead

1.

Spring Lead

With so many options, choosing the right running shoe for you can be a bit overwhelming. This guide will help you decide what type of shoe might be best for you as an individual. We all have different goals with our running, are at different stages of experience, and require different footwear to accommodate the nuances of our unique bodies. So take a look, visit a running specialty shoe store to get the right fit, and run better this spring with the perfect pair. This is How to Find the Perfect Running Shoe This Spring.

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2.

Skora Core

If You're in High School or College...

Perfect Shoe Options: Skora Core, Scott Race Rocker

As a high school track and cross country coach, I see runners of all shapes and sizes (in all types of footwear) at any given practice. One thing they usually have in common is that their young bodies adapt quickly to any new training stress you assign to them. Their improvement curve is remarkable, and this carries over to biomechanics, as well. Therefore, young runners (middle school to college age) can benefit from lower-profile, somewhat minimalist shoes to strengthen feet and improve form while they are young. Once “bad” running form habits like over-striding, heel-striking, and inefficient rotation at the hips are established, they are hard to break away from as we age in our running careers. To combat this, young runners can begin training in shoes like the ones below, and even use these for racing longer track events or over manicured cross country courses.

3.

Newton Motion

If You're a Beginner...

Perfect Shoe Options: Mizuno Wave Alchemy 12, Newton Motion 2013

Many of us take-up running in our late twenties and thirties to relieve stress, lose weight, or tackle something profound like completing a marathon. Runners in this category will take solace in a more cushioned, stable shoe to protect their bodies as they develop the strength and dexterity needed to cover long distances. If you fall into this category of runner, your perfect spring shoe may be in line with a traditional pair of trainers that will last a long while, be useful over a variety of surfaces, and make your running all the more enjoyable. In order to stick with a challenging activity like running for many years, it is essential to have fun during your first months of training. The below shoes are a great place to start in your quest for health and fitness through running.

4.

Kinvara 4

If You Know What You're Doing...

Perfect Shoe Options: Saucony Kinvara 4, Brooks PureFlow 2

If you have been running for years, compete well as an age-group or Masters athlete, and/or rely on your daily dose of miles to relax and unwind, then you need a shoe as seasoned as you are to train in this spring. You have seen innumerable fads, heard all the trendy science reports, but simply want a shoe that feels good to complete the miles you love each day. Since you have probably experience every injury under the sun in your career, you are fine with a neutral shoe that lets your body do “its thing” when you run. The below shoes are simplistic, well-cushioned, and responsive enough to help you bring home a new trophy or simply tire a few young bucks in your neighborhood as you complete your daily constitutional.

5.

Inov-8 Road-X-Treme 178

If You're an Elite Runner...

Perfect Shoe Options: Inov-8 Road-X-Treme 178, New Balance Minimus Road M1010

If you are among the running Elect, compete to win larger regional or national races, or finish at the top of your age group virtually every time out of the blocks, then your shoe needs will be as fine-tuned as you are. Runners in this category are usually gifted with efficient biomechanics, lighter body frames, and rarely succumb to common running injuries. The perfect shoe for you in training will be lightweight, highly responsive, and will work with your body (not against it) for the long runs, speed sessions, and grueling tempos you complete each week. You may not be able to beat the likes of Ryan Hall, but shoes such as the ones below will bring you all the nearer to competitive glory.

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