No, entry level. Nothing bling. They can be sodding pink with bows on for all I care. Cheap- cheapy mccheapy! Im a running newbie- probably mainly tarmac with a small amount of doubletrack.

Saucony, but go to a decent running shop and get advice or you can bugger yourself quite easily. Up and Running in Hyde are worth a visit.

Tried that path of cheap shoes, my advice get the best fitting pair of shoes you can, regardless of price. You body will love you for it. It will make your experience a whole lot better.

Definately worth going to a proper running shop and getting your gait analysed for your first pair… otherwise it’s a bit like just picking up any old randomly sized bike and trying to go biking on it.

Gait? Im worried. I guess if I go into a shop smelling faintly of wee they wont see me as an ‘up-sell’ opportunity 🙄

I use Brooks GTS 7s, not because i like the look of them or because they were cheap, but because after gait analysis it was determined i over pronated so needed a support shoe to correct this.

If i had just gone for a cheap pair from mandmdirect i would probably be injured all the time. If you are considering running anything more than for the bus i really would recommend getting a decent pair. But then its your knees etc.

I always found asics to be the best, most comfortable and supportive, durable and efficient. They often do sales on previous years models (new colour schemes etc).

I did a lot of fast training and was quite light on my feet though so didn’t need a lot of specialist support.

spend the money.. your knees will thank you.

about £70 should see you right. I went to running bear in Alderly Edge and she was really good.
They have also started doing gait analysis/ running shoes in Go Outdoors in Cheadle Heath. How good they are I don’t know.

Noted and good point on the knees. My knees are worth more than £35 each. I dont even know if I can run yet, it’ll be a mile then collapse!

You don’t need gait analysis and an expensive pair of shoes to get into running. That’s what the industry is leading city-types to believe.

Gait analysis only becomes important once you start getting into it and upping the mileage/speed.

Buy a pair of shoes for no more than £40, just ensure they have a firm cushion and they will get you into jogging and getting fit without problems. STWers, in particular, love to think they are doing things according to the rule book and most have lost a grasp of simplicity.

So, spend £30-40 if you like, go out once or twice a week and tryto get fit. After a few months/a year, if you’re still keen and are slowly increasing the distance/speed, then go to a specialist running shop with all the trimmings.

Cheap shoes do not equal injury.

Side question: I’m running twice a week, 6-10km each time, indoor or outdoor, and I notice that my performance is getting down slowly, like for the same loop I have to add 1 or 2 min each time. I can feel my legs are getting tired earlier than usually, could it be that I need a new pair of shoes? Or that my fitness level is going down with my age (going 40 soon).

I would certainly recommend going to a running shop for the a shoe that gives the right support from the outset. I got Brooks and they are good

For the sake of a few extra quid its well worth getting a pair of decent shoes and a good running shop will put you on a tread mill or just watch you run up and down outside. I can’t see how your going to stay interested in running for long though as its not really a gear queer kind of sport.

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mysterymurdoch:

You don’t need gait analysis and an expensive pair of shoes to get into running. That’s what the industry is leading city-types to believe.

Gait analysis only becomes important once you start getting into it and upping the mileage/speed.

Buy a pair of shoes for no more than £40, just ensure they have a firm cushion and they will get you into jogging and getting fit without problems. STWers, in particular, love to think they are doing things according to the rule book and most have lost a grasp of simplicity.

So, spend £30-40 if you like, go out once or twice a week and tryto get fit. After a few months/a year, if you’re still keen and are slowly increasing the distance/speed, then go to a specialist running shop with all the trimmings.

Cheap shoes do not equal injury.

Personally i disagree with the above, reason being is I tried that method. I bought some Nikes, nothing fancy but seemed well built and didn’t cost the earth so i knew if running was not for me then no probs of wasting loads of cash. After a week or so of running 1-2 miles in them my ankles started playing up.

On the advice of some runner friends I went to my local pro shop and did the whole test, after obvious initial scoffing at the need for this, and walked out with some Brooks GTS7 after the test showed I needed a trainer to correct my over pronation. Now i am more than willing to attempt that I just have spazzy feet and most people will be fine with some less specialised footwear, but for the extra £30 the Brooks cost me, the analysis was thrown in for free as i bought trainers from them, i can now run as far as i want (which is still not very far) and not be crippled the next day.

Just my experience.

STWers, in particular, love to think they are doing things according to the rule book and most have lost a grasp of simplicity.

I am fairly sure the opposite applies as well.

I’m in two minds- I wont be taking it up as a hobby/purely to push my fitness that bit more… but I’m off to
http://www.upandrunning.co.uk/shops/manchester.php

at lunchtime to look up Brooks.

Gilles this happens to a LOT of people so don’t worry. It’s a combination of the body changing, short/medium-term fatigue and daily changes. If life is stressful your fitness will drop a bit. You should probably rest for a few weeks, so some rowing/cycling/gym instead of running, STRETCH after whatever exercise it is you do, and don’t get focussed on slowing times.

Do a couple of shorter runs when you get back into it and take it from there.

Jamie, there are always exceptions.

I also agree with getting the right shoes for your gait, no matter what type of running you are doing. You can get blisters walking for ten minutes in the wrong shoes.

Gilles Shoes should last about 300 to 500 miles. You can normally see if they are becoming warn on the impact areas, they tend to stay a little crushed or misshaped. Are you getting enough sleep, been ill recently or eating enough?

MM – i agree with you, to some extent. I’d be going for a minimalist shoe though, either a racing flat or something like the repro Nikes/Pumas/Asics that size? sell. Modern shoes regardless of price almost universally have ‘stacked’ heels (i.e. that are very high relative to the forefoot) which encourages you to land on your heel. Natural (barefoot) running forces you to land on your midfoot/forefoot. It’s only when you’re heelstriking that pronation becomes an issue.

Increase your mileage gradually and let your feet build up some strength.

(oh, and google Pose method or Chi running for more info.)

Guide to what shoes you need.

Gilles Shoes should last about 300 to 500 miles

No, they should last longer than that, at least 1000 miles. I have seen the internet runnig sites bandying this figure about and have to laugh…this figure didn’t exist ten years ago so either the manufacture of shoes has fallen to poor levels, or the sportswear industry has some leverage in publications. I would have been throwing away shoes every 2 months if the mileage above was true.

From experience, shoes should last somewhere between 1000-1500 miles. Less if you trash them offroad or are heavy on your feet, more if you’re light and look after them.

I love the inverse snobbery that comes up on here all the time – headset press, na, sledgehammer and a block of concrete? Proper running shoes? No way mate, you don’t need those, recycled car tyre flip-flops do me just fine.

I’m with Jamie on this, if you have questionable biomechanics, and you won’t know if you do or not, then it’s worth going to a good running shop and buying shoes that match your gait even as a beginner. No-one’s saying you need to spend a fortune initially, but if you’re going to spend 40 quid anyway, you may as well spring the extra 20 quid because chances are that in two months time you’ll want some better shoes anyway.

Also, as a cyclist, your cardio vascular system will be ahead of your legs in running terms, so start easy and build up mileage very gradually – see runnersworld.co.uk for a good specialist running site and community. Aside from the biomechanical thing which can cause all sorts of issues from shoulder level down, increasing mileage too fast with a weight-bearing activity runs the risk of stress fracturing your legs, which is quite painful, trust me… I trashed myself triple jumping and mountaineering way back and it’s surprisingly easy to damage yourself.

If you have a neutral or mildly-pronating gait (latter is normal) then you probably don’t need to spend a fortune on shoes, but the reason I mentioned Saucony is that they give a really nice springy, cushioned ride that actually makes you want to run. The worst running shoes I ever owned were a pair of New Balance recommended by a sports podiatrist no less, they may have been biomechanically correct, but they felt horrible in a slabby, plodding sort of way…

Anyway…

I can’t see how your going to stay interested in running for long though as its not really a gear queer kind of sport.

I own a Inbred frame, had my wheels for 5yrs, headset for 3yrs, rear mech for 7yrs. Struggling to see how Im a gear queer? I dont own a Shadow or carbon rear mech – its a 2001 XTR! My riding shoes are worn and holy Spesh Sports and my riding clothing is threadbare. I’m not into wasting money hence I dont want a flash/expensive pair of running shoes- the opposite. I go to the gym in chocolate brown New Balances FFS as they were cheap.

Oh and I’ve ridden a 4yr old trackbike to work for the past two years. It has brown parcel tape on the bars that I forgot and left there. Forum’s dont equate to reality.

BWD speaks much sense there, if you are fit from the bike it’s very eary to overdo it and this will likley compound any problems caused by impact on your legs. When I started in the wrong trainers I could barely walf for 2 days, even with the right ones you need to run a lot slower than you actually can

I had the same thing, last year. Went to Runners Need (Shooting), in Spitalfields. Ended up buying a really comfy pair of Asics. Nice and wide, because I have wide feet. I went for an itnitial run in them, and they felt great. Well worth spending the extra, I reckon.

I haven’t run since. Coon’t be bothered. Cycling’s much more fun!

Just wear ’em down the pub, now. Hora, at least buy a pair that will look ok with jeans…

mysterymurdoch Tv sets used to last much longer too in the good old days.

My recent experience is that shoes will last 300 to 500 miles.

Actually I think I tend to agree with MysteryMurdoch here. Of course it all depends on what sort of milage you plan to do, but I trained for 9 months and completed a half marathon in 1hr 45min wearing a pair of shoes I bought from the internet. (They were Reebok I think – with air cushioned soles)

I still run and now have a pair of properly fitted shoes from Up & Running in Harrogate and I can honestly say that, although the fitted ones DO improve my gait and stop knee pain (only starts after about 6 miles normally anyway), the old Interweb ones are more comfortable – certainly on shorter runs of around 2 or 3 miles.

Have a look at Saucony Jazz 5000 – really good value for money, excellent on/off road sole. Good price too. Sportsshoes Unlimited in Bradford.

But I do agree with BWD – don’t even attempt more than a mile or two on your first 6 or so runs – build up VERY slowly. You will be amazed at how painful it will be the next day if you do not. Even now, if I haven’t run for a couple of months, I will struggle the next day if I run more than a couple of miles straight off the bat.

failedengineer – Member
Have a look at Saucony Jazz 5000 – really good value for money, excellent on/off road sole. Good price too. Sportsshoes Unlimited in Bradford.

Have they changed the outer sole material in the last couple of years? I had a pair probably 7 years ago but the rubber was so hard that you were on your backside at the slightest hint of rain or mud!

:o)

Made for a couple of sore bruises but that didn’t stop my clubmates having a giggle!

You can’t really ask a question like that without opening a huge can o’ worms.

What you need to do is go to a proper running shop and get gait analysis done, then pick a pair of trainers from the ones that suit the way your legs and feet move.

I could say Saucony Progrid (‘cos that’s what I have), but I chose them because they suit my gait (Neutral) and were the lightest and best fitting pair of the ones that suited me. You could also be neutral, but might want Mizuno or Asics instead because they fit you better.

A good pair of shoes will save you from really **** your knees up. You can’t really save money on running shoes.

As you’re just flirting with the idea, I’d do the couple of tests in the link I posted above, then buy a pair for about £35 that suit.

You can’t really save money on running shoes.

Absolute rubbish IMO – as has been stated, much of this is PR to sucker us all into spending too much on these fancy shoes.

It’s hard to break away from the “the more money you spend the better” train of thought but there are big benefits to be had from keeping the thinking head on and ignoring professional advice! (after all, professionals are there to make money and inherently biased).

Thank you so far guys. At the very most its going to be around the block before my gym session so say 2miles. No more. I loved cross country running at school but then it progressed into mountain biking. 🙂

I used many cheap Nike trainers at first but switched to Brooks after having a gait analysis done.

Best to get fitted properly IMO 🙂

Don’t know if ‘fitted’ shoes make a difference or not but I would not chance it

Having started recently I would echo the comments above regarding starting slow. You are probably plenty fit enough but have odd biker legs. I went out for 20 minutes and was not really sweating when I got back. I couldn’t bloody walk for 2 weeks afterwards. Now I’m starting again with 30 min sessions of more walking than running.

I went for a run recently, first time in years, and found it hard to keep my heart rate up without my ankles dropping off.

But the worst thing was my hips were killing after. Seems weird for hips to ache? They felt OK after a couple of days so maybe they are just weak or need stretching after a load of biking?

I would agree that finding a ‘proper’ running shop is the right place to start.

A decent place will speak to you about your running habits/plans (including distance, frequency and surface) and take a look at you physically (i.e. how big/heavy you are). They should also get an idea of how you run (not quite sure when this becomes ‘gait analysis’). If you’re just starting out, aren’t sure how much you’re going to run, are fairly neutral and not hugely heavy a ‘proper’ running shop will suggest something appropriate at an appropriate price level. Any shop that tries to push you into an expensive shoe early on isn’t (in my opinion) a ‘proper’ running shop – unless you have a very clear need for something specific.

Most importantly, they will make sure that your shoe fits right.

Good shops will suggest other brands / models (that they don’t stock) if your feet have particular requirements. Many will even tell you where you can find them locally; with small, independent shops in particular it’s that kind of business.

STRETCH!!!

You need to really make sure that you stretch well beforehand and well afterwards.

That’s one of my biggest problems… I just never seem to stretch enough beforehand, then forget to tretch much afterwards in my haste to get back to work.

HI-TEC Silver Shadows all the way!

Front position, go 😈