I first started running in middle school, long before there were things called “super shoes” or “super spikes”. The shoes I ran in were whatever my mom could afford at the time, and they were fine by my standards. It wasn’t until my junior year in high school that I got my first pair of running shoes that really stuck with me, the Nike Pegasus 32. From that point on, I became more aware of all the different types of shoes that were at my disposal as an athlete. Shoes that all had different purposes, but shared the same goal, giving the runner an enjoyable experience during their training. This unlocked a new way for me to get excited about running outside of just gaining fitness, which I feel like has been important to have during some rougher periods of my running career. I could lace up a different shoe to have a different experience for all my runs, keeping the sometimes monotonous training a bit more exciting.

With all the new shoes coming out nowadays, there are so many great ways to enhance your own training, but also a lot more opinions about which shoes are the best. The opinion I’ve always held when it comes to picking out the best running shoe for yourself, is making sure it meets one criteria; is it comfortable ? A shoe shouldn’t need to be broken in overtime, it should fit well out of the box. If you have to get blisters, and then calluses, to wear the shoe, then they’re probably not the right shoe.

So next time you are getting a new pair of running shoes, take some time, try new models out, and see what the world has to offer. It may just change your experience with running the same way it for me.