shoe and fit

The human body generally comes with complicated machinery – muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, bones – to enable you to walk and run. Your ability to run efficiently and injury free depends in part on the alignment and operation of these moving parts. Your individual biomechanics are partly determined by your genes, but also by your lifestyle, past injuries, treatment and exercises. Running shoes vary according to the way and extent to which they compensate for faulty biomechanics, and your choice of running shoes should depend on your personal biomechanical profile.

Paradoxically, the best runners often don’t need to spend much money on running shoes. Because they are typically lucky enough to have good biomechanics, their running style does not require them to buy shoes which correct the way in which their feet roll when they hit the ground, or cushion them from the stress on their joints as their feet repeatedly hit the ground. Us mere mortals, however, need shoes which will correct our deficiencies and weaknesses, and improve our running action so that every footstep does not place an intolerable pressure on our feet, legs and pelvis.