What shoe is right for me?

     Leading footwear vendors each year improve their footwear on the basis of the needs of customers and extensive research, which makes buying footwear difficult to find that caters to each individual’s particular needs. Sometimes walking into a footwear store is overwhelming to a customer.
     There are so many shoes on the wall and how does one start to choose which shoes are right for them. Do I choose on color? Do I choose based on fit? Do I choose based on what I do?
     These are the basic questions that run through the consumer’s mind. As these factors are very important, it’s just as important to get the best fit to your overall needs. These needs can also be to help get over an injury such severe heel pain, leg pain, back pain, knee pain, etc.
     Consumers can also try to do as much research on their own through various channels, such as magazines or reviews but shoes are meant to be tried on. Also, getting expert advice from a reliable shoe store that actually fits their customers is at best the most important factor in choosing the right footwear.
     Most shoe fitting places are trained to get you into the right footwear by using a simple method known as a “gait analysis.” Gait analysis is a quick review of how a person’s natural walk allows a fitter to determine what type of footwear to recommend.
     This review can only be done while a person walks without shoes on and is viewed from behind, which means that a person that wants to be analyzed walks away from the person reviewing the gait. This determines which way an arch flattens or not. This simple process known to fitters can easily help narrow down the choices for a customer.
     Shoe fitters should also know all of your needs to help this process of choosing footwear easier for you. Needs can be anything from what activities you do, to what injuries you may have, to what surface you’re using the shoes for (work, gym, the park).

Do your shoes fit?

     Footwear is the most important piece of equipment for most athletes whether you’re running, walking, playing tennis, and cross training. Most don’t realize the importance of a good pair of shoes. Walking can cause up to three times your body weight’s pressure on each foot that you land on. If your feet are not properly supported, it’s more likely that you’re body isn’t as well. The right footwear for the activity you do is essential to a healthy and injury free fitness lifestyle.
One must realize that your feet are the foundation of your body. For example, imagine walking many hundred steps with feet that have flat to low arches in shoes that have little or no arch supports. In this situation, the feet will roll inward thus putting pressure on the heels, then the ankles, then on the knees, then the hips and eventually the back. Again, if your feet are not aligned your body will do anything in its power to compensate alignment meanwhile causing aches and pains, and hopefully no permanent damage. People with high arches also have issues and are not off the hook. Feet with high arches in the wrong shoes can cause havoc on the outer knee, the illotibial band, and severe hip/back pain. In some instances, injuries have been known to radiate all the way into the neck and shoulders, just by not having the proper support on the feet.
     Shoes should be fitted to you personally. Shoes should cater to your needs, whether you walking/running on pavement, treadmill, or trails to walking/running your first marathon, or just trying to get healthy from an injury or from wanting to become more active and not sedentary. What ever the fitness reason may be, just get fitted properly. Getting fitted correctly means going to a reliable source where staff members know how to fit, and have core knowledge of footwear and feet. Having a place to go where the staff can look at your walking style or your gait and analyze your needs is important to getting a proper shoe for you and your activity.
     In preparation to shopping for a good pair of shoes, bring the current pair of shoes that you are using and have a staff member check out the wear pattern and to see if the shoes are still in good condition. It’s been known that people tend to wear their shoes longer that they should and have been working out on dead cushion. Your older shoes may look nice on the outside; the tread may still be good, but your shoes die in the midsole, the heart of the shoe. Also, bring in the socks, shoe inserts, arch supports you may be wearing with the shoes. These factors can change the fit of the shoes.
     Finally, have both feet measured, as one foot is always longer and wider than the other. Then go with the combination of the larger foot and width. For walking it’s normal to fit your shoes bigger but again, see a fitting expert for proper fitting, which we do here at Runners Lane. Please come in the store and talk to us about the right shoe for you. If you can't come in, feel free to call us at (661) 260-3368 or visit our website, runnerslane.com

Can A Great Pair of Shoes Fix Heel Pain?

Often times many of our customers come to us in hopes of finding shoes that will help with healing their heel pain. Instead, great fitting shoes with ample support will in fact help the healing process. Depending on the amount of support and cushioning needed for each particular person, shoes can help alleviate some of the pressure put on the feet that normally a regular pair of shoes wouldn’t do. If your feet are not supported properly, your feet won’t have a chance of healing.
Heel pain can stem from a number of foot injuries such as plantar fasciitis and heel bone spurs. The more common of the two is plantar fasciitis. In simple terms, this injury is caused by the ligaments in the arch known as the plantar fascia to overstretch and/or strain and pull on the heel where lots of the pain occurs.

Getting shoes with the right amount of arch support for you is a great way to avoid these injuries. Arch support inserts are also available to place in your favorite pair of casual shoes too.

Visit runnerslane.com our come in our store to find the right support for you!

Footwear has been an ever-increasing evolution in technology. I remember the times when runners used to run in a shoe that was made only of foam (no shock absorbing technology) with a piece of fabric to hold your foot down with flat shoe laces. Imagine how far running shoes have changed for the better overall, keeping our legs healthier so we could run longer and further. Well, socks have taken on a new dimension too. Socks are another important piece of gear that goes hand-in-hand with great running shoes. Your socks can make the difference on how much farther and longer you can run die to better comfort. Socks have changed dramatically in technology. The misnomer on sock fabric is that cotton was the best wicking material. Actually, synthetic fibers have a better chance of pulling the moisture off your feet. Cotton has one channel for the moisture to move through where synthetic materials have four channels of fiber to push that sweat out and evaporate through the mesh of your running shoes.

The most commonly known synthetic material is known as coolmax. Coolmax is not only found in socks but other running accessories such as clothing and hats. Coolmax is the generic name for synthetic fibers other names use are Dri-Fit, Dri-Weave, Clima-Cool, Dry-Tech, etc. Besides the the importance of the fabric that performance socks provide, they are also stitched differently than your normal everyday sock. These socks are sewn so that the toe area is seamless. Socks with seams usually cause irritation on the toes, which could lead to blistering.

Also, the newer performance socks usually have an arch band. The arch band is usually non-binding elastic that supports your feet underneath the arch and continues around the top of your feet (or your instep). This arch band promotes fluid and blood circulation in your feet so that your feet are less likely to fatigue. The arch bands also help the sock stay in place on your feet and are less likely to bunch up at the end of your toes.

Quality socks also offer better sizing, come in different lengths and thickness. These socks cater to a larger size run as opposed to your regular sock size that used to be sized as the common 9-11 or 10-13. If your feet were smaller or larger than there sizes your socks were either way too big and the heel of the sock pops up to your achilles or to small and you had to stretch the sock to fit your foot.

Visit runnerslane.com for a great selection of performance running socks!

Summer Running

Get into shape this summer with running!

Running is a great way to enjoy the outdoors this summer. As always, it is an outlet to get outdoors and enjoy what nature has to offer.

Here are a few tips for enjoying a run in the sun:

Try to run early in the morning, as the heat will greatly affect the quality of your workout.

Wear clothes and socks that wick away moisture. (No cotton!)

Don't forget sunscreen. Sunburn hurts, period.

Bring a bottle of water. Staying hydrated is very important when you're going to be active in the sun.

Visit runnerslane.com for your summer running needs!