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Beginner Running Shoe Guide | What you need to know when you start running
2.3k Plays2 months ago
Picking the right running shoes as a beginner can be tricky. With dozens of brands all claiming to have the most comfortable, stable and cushioned options, spending your hard-earned money on the shoes that work for you can take a lot of work.
In this podcast, Nick, Kieran and Tom chat through the things that beginner runners need to know about shoes, from forking out for the latest models to getting gait analysis.
Big thanks to Fear of Tigers for the killer intro music. You can listen to more of his stuff over at https://www.patreon.com/fearoftigers
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Transcript
Introduction & Episode Topic
00:00:04
Speaker
Hey, Tommy from The Run Testers, and welcome back to The Run Testers podcast. In this episode, we are gonna be talking about beginner running shoes. So we're gonna be chatting through the things that beginners need to be aware of when buying running shoes, tips and tricks on buying your first pair of running shoes, and we're also gonna be chatting through some of our top choices for running shoes for beginners.
Current Training & Weather Chat
00:00:25
Speaker
We'll also be having our usual chat about training and races that we are doing at the moment. Right, let's dive in and do the podcast.
00:00:38
Speaker
Evening gents, how are we doing tonight? Warm, warm Thursday. My evening. yes so Yeah, I which just went out for a run and I had to come back in and put a vest on. ah I thought I'd finished my vest season. Vest season never ends. Well, it doesn't for Microsoft, does it? No, it's true.
00:00:59
Speaker
There were people, I saw Nick, you said yesterday, you saw people running, you I didn't see people, you were a person running without a top on. There were more people out today, September in London, people were running without any tops on, it's mad. Yeah, I was tops off of the track yesterday, it was it was great.
Event Highlights: Brooks Launch & Marathon Mishap
00:01:13
Speaker
Really good experience. Lovely treat for everyone there. Well, there's no anyone there. Like I said, the only person who came was the one that came on, saw me was top off and was delighted to whip his own off, couldn't wait. It was a really nice moment. We were like, yeah, September, but still.
00:01:26
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I even consider taking off one of my layers, but I want to be one of your seven teachers. that Yeah. yeah forever and well Well, we actually saw each other ah last night at the ah Brooks glycerin max launch event.
00:01:41
Speaker
We did. We had a very ah we a very nice little run around central London. Even nicer raps. With your raps, what were they? Tacos, I guess. it's Very nice tacos. Nice tacos. Very good, yeah. I don't know what was in any of them, but they were delicious. Lamb. Bit of lamb. Some aubergine with some crispy bits. They were nice. Don't know what the crispy bits were, though. You're right. I don't know what that was. Lovely surprise. Human bones.
00:02:05
Speaker
We'll talk about the glycerin max in a bit, but let's kick off as usual with a bit of an update on training, races. That's it, really. Nick, it's getting close to marathon time again. Yeah, yeah. Adventure block has kind of started. i had ah I raced the weekend. I told you guys about this last night. I had a pretty gutting experience where ah I was on to run my first ever sub-70 half. And then in the very last turn on the course, we got sent the wrong way. And it was a short result as a result. So I have got my 20k PB.
00:02:35
Speaker
and I did run 68.58 for 20.95 kilometers so that's ah it's a good that's a good time but I didn't get my first sub 70 so I'm gonna have to do that another time and which is gonna be tricky just because marathon training is gonna kick into gear now like the mileage is gonna go up and staying fresh is gonna be tricky but it was a fun race nonetheless I think Kieran's got some slightly more exotic races coming up though He always does. um I'm off to to Switzerland, just outside of Zurich, for a race which in German is called, or Swiss German, called the Greifenseilauf Haldmarouten. See, now my wife is half Swiss, and I have to tell you, and the way they pronounce things in ah Swiss German, as you won't like this, is like it's a sing-song fairy tale language, so it's, the grosser or of an orbid or of it all and whatever you said like that. They don't pronounce it with that hard German edge. It's probably funny Swiss people here, but yeah. have to work on that on the plate over but yeah so it's a nice little it should be good fun it's like a half marathon round ah a Swiss lake just outside of Zurich so yeah should be flat should be potentially fast but hopefully beautiful as
Track & Parkrun Experiences
00:03:32
Speaker
well. Well you were telling me last night that you're still chasing a couple of PBs this year.
00:03:36
Speaker
I've got, yeah, I mean, I'm only missing out of all of my PBs right up to the 100 mile. From one mile to 100, I'm just missing my one mile and my half marathon for this year. Tricky to find a one mile event now. I've got one on Saturday. right Have you? but Westminster Mile on Saturday, yeah. Oh, that is a good one. A bit late for you. I'm not ideal for you, obviously.
00:03:58
Speaker
I don't know, how do you set up an official race? Can you set up an official race easily on your own? I think if you just go run it on a track, we can count it. Yeah. Just make sure you start from the mile line, not from the 400 metre line, because there's only 600 metres. 600 metres. Mile races are really hard to find in central London. I remember there was the Westminster Mile. They used to do that city of Westminster Mile. Well, road ones are. The track one's very easy to find. It's just you'd wait for this. Yeah, the track one. You would do the track one. Doesn't the road one? Does the track one count the same way as the road mile?
00:04:22
Speaker
That's more, that's a mile distance. Road miles are very rare, very few and far between, yeah. Does it often they do mile events where it's recognized as an official? Everything's official on the track, Tom, because it's very easy to measure the course, as you can understand, right? Will it go on from Britain rankings? Yeah, well, we'll go on Paratent. I don't know about Britain, but yeah, Paratent just feeds into run Britain, doesn't it? Yeah, of course it would. Any track event will be official because they obviously don't need to get someone to certify the course. Right.
00:04:51
Speaker
If Kiri went and done it on the track by himself, that would count, right? Like, it's a track. It's the right distance. As long as you're not cheating. Are you cheating, Kiri? That's the thing I'm worried about. Yeah, you should have cut halfway across. Oh, I mean, this is all right then. When I get back, that's what I'm going to go and do. Yeah, you look out for the curvy line 1609 meters you need and these these watches are too accurate the track now you can't fudge it anymore. I think the half is going to be harder though to get a PB I think that's the one. What are you racing in? In terms of shoes or number of layers. Number of t-shirts. Seven t-shirts. I think I'm going to wear the I'm going to wear with the Hoka Mac X2 which is a bit yeah. I was tossing up between that and the Essex Metaspeed Sky Paris, but I'm interested to see how those shoes do in a race. If you don't do it, come do Battersea on the 20th October with me when I'm going to try and get this official sub-70 after being missing out. When's that? October 20th, Battersea Park. Everyone get heavy on head there. It's going to be good fun. You might just miss the crowds from marathon season. Yeah, it's true. I mean, it's always busy, isn't it, Battersea? It's going to be a bit of this park run, right? Battersea Park coming soon. I didn't realise every event in Battersea limits to about 200 to 300 people. That park run will routinely get 1,000, I think. Easily. More sometimes. So how is that going to work?
00:06:12
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know. There's not enough space for that many runners around that park. No. it's yeah i did um no I feel like obviously it's a very fast course. I like fast park on courses, but that's not really the point of park run. You shouldn't be just you know it's encourage participation in Batsy Park. There's no shortage of runners there on a Saturday anyway. so No, no, but if anyone's, well, even though pattern one isn't a race, obviously there will be a lot of people going down there to get their fastest time because it's one of the fastest courses you can find. Yeah, it's perfect, yeah. But it's going to be a tough one because it's going to be, what, two laps? Well, depending on the course. Two in a tiny bit. Yeah, two in a bit. I think the proposed course is basically just the classic course that people do in run-throughs and Shree Chimnoy events. So I don't know why they couldn't go around the top part of the park and make it a bit
00:06:54
Speaker
Well, two laps, there's going to be a lot of catching up with people. If it's 1,000 people, some people might not have started by the time people get around a lap. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's going to be interesting. We'll see. Yeah, we'll see. It's going to have a massive knock-on effect on all of the Battersea Park races as well. This is true. This is true. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah. I don't know how I feel about really quick park runs. They're fun and everything, but if you really want a quick time, sign up, pay for a race. Yeah. Support the racing industry and go and get yourself a time at a race.
00:07:23
Speaker
Yeah, I suppose and suppose that's the the joy of the parkour, isn't it? They're all different and you you can get your... fastest time on a certain course. Yeah, exactly. you Do some random like your one's crazy now, Tom, isn't it? Either the one dearest you vertices, like five laps or three laps. It's five laps five for 4.8 or something. Actually, I think it may you may be nearly six. i can't It's not very nice, basically. Yeah, um yeah it's, it's, it's a real mental slog. im gonna um I think I'm gonna have to get a bit addicted to it and try and try and beat it. But I've only done it once and I i couldn't even break 20 minutes because it was hilly as well, right?
00:07:56
Speaker
Really, really, really, really, really thin. So it's not just in like you got to jump onto the grass at the side. Grass at the side is like a verge. So you can't jump onto it. So you're sort of like crashing around. It's a bit mad. That sounds like a nightmare. It's not a very busy one. So, I mean, it's busy enough that it causes a problem if you're running fast because you are catching it with people because it's like five laps. But there's normally like 70 people, I think, max there. So it's not like crazy. The wind tool, you'll be dropped the numbers a bit. Yeah. Well, there's another one round here as well now. So I don't know. That's not what's in a country park. Oh, that sounds nice. Got a good old gunpowder park near me. Great park run. That's two laps.
00:08:39
Speaker
Busiest day, busiest one, I didn't realize it was on Gunpowder Week, the Gunpowder Day, whatever, the fifth moment and all that. So I didn't realize that, I turned up the Gunpowder Day, whatever it's called. And so I turned up there on that day, not really twigging it, thinking I was slightly cold morning in the autumn, hundreds of people going, what is going on? We celebrate Gunpowder Day, is that what's happening nowadays? Everybody come out dressed as runners Guy Fawkes. Shaky hands.
00:09:08
Speaker
yeah i um Yeah, it was good fun though when that happened. ah Yeah, but mostly kill it cools off in the in the winter a bit because it is it's a bit out there on the outskirts of London, but it's pretty fast. Nice, nice. Well, I'm just ah mentally praying myself for this mile race on Saturday.
00:09:22
Speaker
Yeah, it's a good one, mate. So my friend did that. It's quite fun, isn't it? Can you basically do the mouth? Doesn't the mouth? de delicious That's a whole, it's just around St. James's butt. Yeah, but that is cool. I would like to do that, but my mile, I think my mile could be an indoor mile, which was a savage experience, an indoor mile. It's amazing how airless a huge room can feel when you've run a mile around it. Yeah.
00:09:42
Speaker
But yeah, you can do that, Kieran. It's like, when does that happen? Can that that happen often? The indoor season starts, it probably starts next year. If you're doing it this year, you probably have to find the last couple of outdoor meets, but I mean, just go, go to track. Well, next time we're both in central London, we'll find a track and I'll but i'll pace you around. We'd need to run. I think 517 is my fastest sofa at the moment, I think. If I ran that, was it like Strava Night of the 10Ks in like 2017 or something? Yeah, you can beat that. So it's been a while. Yeah, done. Half will be, yeah, yeah if you don't do it in Zurich, you can come to it. That'll be fun. Yeah.
00:10:16
Speaker
You've done a Batsy half, haven't you? Both of you have done it. Have you not got anything positive to say about that many laps? No. I don't mind doing laps. My one thing is I want someone else to sort of be my lap counter. Because I did it, the last time I did it, I covered my watches and I was trying to run on feel. And I was like, it's going to be easy to remember how many laps you've done, right? I have no idea whether I've finished or not. I just hope there's someone to run with so basically I can follow them. And ideally I'd be in the lead group because then there'd be a bike counting the laps for you, like you say. But usually there's someone a lot quicker than me at that about to see run through. So I'll, yeah, that's something I haven't considered, but I'll be looking at my watch. It'll be a lot easier. I just make sure I just check when the K-beats that is roughly on pace. Get mics just to come down for the morning, stand at the side and just shout at you every time you go past that. Trusting
Running Gear Review: Shoes & Tech
00:11:07
Speaker
Mike to keep count? No, you know, you'll end up doing that. Hold up a number. You'll end up doing 30k. Mike's holding up 11. Well, how would there be 11, Mike? Right, well, let's talk kit.
00:11:28
Speaker
Okay, so running shoes out at the moment. There's been a few recently that we've we've been testing. Any big ones from from your side? Oh, Mac X2, Kiran's new race shoe is one of my favorite shoes of the whole year, I think. I absolutely adore that shoe. It's my first, I think the first proper, this might be better than the Speed 4 shoe for me in terms of those plated trainers. the ah just got i really i mean i I just love them. but I do i do use them both in one day. and i just well just There's not really anything to pick between them. It's just both great shoes. and
00:12:01
Speaker
but it's Yeah, it's brilliant. I really like that shoe. That's pretty much one of my, I think this year, you know, we did our favourite shoes of last year and we had five each. I think in that I had probably three shoes I loved and two shoes I was, you know, pretty keen on. This year, I think there's 10 or 12 shoes I really, really love. It feels like an amazing year so far.
00:12:17
Speaker
Yeah. Also, also a fan of the X2. My only thing is they don't fit me. I think I probably need to either go for the wide or go half a size up there. The fit isn't quite as as nice and comfy as the Speed 4. I find the Speed 4 really easy to put on a run. The upper is the big problem on the Mac, I think, at the back as well. Like, I've not had... so Hasn't cut me. Has it cut you? yeah It hasn't, it hasn't, but I'm always... I'm on edge about it. Yeah, yeah. Same, yeah.
00:12:41
Speaker
I don't think I'd like to stew it. Yeah, my instinct is like if I could run a marathon in a speed four, I'm not sure I'd risk it in the X2. Max upper. I think it's a faster enough shoe, but. Yeah. like six Max X upper on the Max X2 midsole. We're in business. Yeah. High praise for the X2 then. Anything else? Well, I've had the glycerin Max in. I'm enjoying that so far, I have to say. I'm enjoying it. Yeah, I've just been out and did a 10K in it. Very much enjoyed that.
00:13:10
Speaker
30k at the weekend. i can Looking forward to that. if It feels like a good supportive comfy shoe for a long runs. Yeah, I mean, I'm quite surprised. I haven't actually put it on the scales, but how light it feels for such a big shoe. It's light. Yeah, I agree. Yeah. yeah like you don't It looks like it's going to be much, much heavier on the foot. It's good. ah if One of the other thing, and we don't we obviously we're more about the performance, but two shoes from Brooks now they've made that actually are good looking shoes and all rather than a bit trad. The uppers on both of the Hypero Max 2
00:13:42
Speaker
And this one I think are really nice. I think they work really well. There's a nice room. Yeah, I'm just, yeah, that's a big change for me. I always found Brooks shoes maybe a little bit kind of on the heavy side in terms of that overall sort of top half of the shoe as well, but better heel design. a fight Why this with the Ghost Mac 2 as well, where I did a run where I did the first half in the Puma Mag Max and then put on the Ghost Mac 2, exactly the same weight on the scales and the Brooks just felt a lot lighter. I don't know if it's just a balance. The way he had the upper is, you know, they're quite padded up as maybe the upper is fairly heavy. So the midsole doesn't feel so bottom heavy, but ah yeah and the and the The Glycerin ah Max is not light, you it's pretty standard weight for a big cushioned shoe, but it feels much lighter than a lot of those big cushioned shoes to me. Big fan of it, yeah. I've just ahve just well' just put the video up for the ah new balance 1080v14. Yeah, a lot of comments. people People are talking a lot about this shoe. I haven't tried this shoe yet.
00:14:32
Speaker
Yeah, it's a bit of a funny a bit of a funny line over the past few years because obviously there are so many big changes in the V13 made it a lot softer, but it's gone. They've done the same thing that all shoe brands do. When they make a really soft shoe, you get a lot of people saying it's like losing stability, so you have to put a bit of stability back into it. sos I think it works quite well. I think it's a nice balance of the the the older versions and the newer versions. Obviously, it's not soft enough for me. I want the V13 softness, but for most people, I think it's... I think it's a smart move by new balance to sort of balance out a bit. It was a bit of a Marmite shoe, wasn't it, the V13? Some people absolutely loved it because it was soft and really nice for easy runs. Then some people say it's just too soft. Like, I want something that's and a little bit firmer, a little bit more responsive, but um yeah, it's definitely... Yeah, I found it a bit too soft, but it sounds like a new one's gained a fair bit of weight as well, right? Yeah, it doesn't feel like...
00:15:20
Speaker
but The older version did like the 11 and 12. I'd probably use it for the same things I use those shoes for, just like you you're cloed ticking off the miles, um general running, that sort of thing. It's definitely not a versatile shoe for me. Whereas the V13, I always put that firmly in the easy day run. I would never dictate fast in that shoe. Whereas this has got a bit more to it, but it's really just, you know, sort of your one, you buy one shoe, you like it. That's it. You're done for all your sort of general running, but I don't really see how it fits into a rotation. It's not your new balance ballos. Tom's new. toing Nothing is the new balance ballos for me. That's like my current favorite shoe.
00:15:58
Speaker
It's a good shoe, very good shoe, that to be fair, I really like it as well. Yeah, it's a stunner, but it's, again, it's 200 quid, 200 quid shoes floating about now these days. Mmm, becoming the norm, isn't it? Price is rising. Yes, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah. Anything else, any other shoes you've been testing?
00:16:14
Speaker
No, a lot of watches though. New garments, new apples. Yeah, not got enough wrists again. This is, yeah. like still yeah still Still doing the Enduro and the Phoenix 8 for me and it was another exciting new watches that have landed. Mine, I'm hoping. I've been typed taken to popping the Chorus Pace 3 in my pocket for runs to connect to a heart rate monitor for just to get the comparison data because otherwise it's watch too many watches on the hands as well as the wrists and you you start to look like a reel.
00:16:42
Speaker
Loser, if I'm honest. yeah Can't be wearing four watches on your hands and wrists. Too many people I can bump into who know me in Chingford now. i'm just guy what new What new watch videos have we already got on the channel? ah Just first looks on the garments. We've got some race video. Kieran did a race yeah with them. I did a race with them as well, but tricky to judge distance when the race is short. and then And then we've got, I guess, four reviews in the coming weeks. We'll have an apple Apple Watch video probably next week, I think, or two, even. Probably won't do too much on the Ultra, too, since it's just a change of color, but we'll maybe do some comparison tests, right?
00:17:16
Speaker
I saw my first photo of it. I was trying to, I was going to leave it in to do like an unboxing and go, wow. But it's, it's actually, it's actually quite nice looking, isn't it? I mean, it will be nice. I mean, as soon as I get, I go, ah, actually, yeah. This is all I wanted was a change of colour. Suddenly, yeah. But I'm excited for the bigger screen on the Series 10, which would be nice. But yeah, lots of nice watches floating around. We should do a, probably have to do a watch roundup quite soon. I think we've probably done most releases now.
What Should Beginners Look for in Running Shoes?
00:17:40
Speaker
Well, when Mike's back from his holiday, you can Yeah, congratulations to you. Cool, all right then. Well, let's ah let's talk about beginner running shoes.
00:18:02
Speaker
Okay, so beginner running shoes is something that we mentioned quite a lot when we're doing our guides, and when we talk about different types of running shoes. But it's a tricky one because we've never really defined what the beginner runner shoes are and what beginners look for in or what they should be looking for in running shoes. So let's kick this off by saying what should beginners be looking for when they're buying running shoes? Who's going to say comfort first? I'm going to say protection. yeah Comfort. yeah Yeah, you're right though. Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:36
Speaker
Well, it obviously depends on the beginner because some people can be super fit from other sports coming into running. But either way, I think if you're new to running, it's quite a high impact sport. It's good to have, I think, a shoe that can protect you. So a fair bit of cushioning, a bit of stability, I would say rather than going for a super soft shoe, I get a nice stable cushioned shoe. and um I yeah to try and pick a pretty you know kind of neutral shoe all around, a standard shoe, and then kind of learn your preferences after using different shoes, but just go for one that's pretty mass appeal at first rather than something that's too niche. Yeah. I mean i i know there are sort of studies that say that one of the biggest factors in whether or not something is likely to cause you an injury is whether or not the shoe is comfortable. so You look at it and say, okay, that's another thing, but actually, does the shoe feel good? It's one of the kind of quite closely linked to how well you run in it and how well the your form is. and I think that's
00:19:25
Speaker
Yeah just going for, there's a lot of instinct I think in those kind of first sort of shoes that you put on and if you put something on and it almost feels like it's not there or it just feels right and you've got good comfort and it sort of disappears on the foot, that's probably the one to go for. it I think you could sort of trust your gut quite quite a lot on that and that's for me why it's really important to get into, if you're going to do it first time to get into a shop and have a feel and have put your feet in a lot of different shoes initially but um yeah with some of the characteristics Nick's kind of talked about, stability decent amount of cushioning. Yeah. Think about the use case that you're going to have for it as well. I think, yeah, I couldn't be more, got to get into a shop, get some advice there, try different shoes, try different drops, try different levels of cushioning, try different brands. And yeah, it's amazing the science on it, isn't it? Because it all just points to the fact that, no, if your shoe feels right, it's probably the right shoe. don't Don't be pressured into buying something that doesn't feel right. Just go for what feels good. Yeah. I think that the definitely comfort is a big one because if you if we take a beginner as somebody who's maybe doing cash to 5K or just
00:20:21
Speaker
doing shorter miles at the start. Comfort is such a big part of that because you know when you're running along, if if there's even the slightest bit of an issue, that can have a big impact on your motivation when you start running. so Make sure it's comfortable. to you know You're not running fast, you're not needing plates or anything. Just just make sure you've got something that you that feels really nice initially.
00:20:42
Speaker
and I suppose the other thing as well is, ah do we what what what about things like um durability, stuff like that? Are we worried about that? I think if you go for you know your your standard big cushion shoes from the main brands, and that's kind of built in, I would say. I would i wouldn't necessarily have to try and try and, I mean, don't go for like a racing shoe because that won't be very durable, I guess. But yeah, if you if you're looking at the kind of shoes we're talking about, I think durability is kind of baked into it a little bit.
00:21:07
Speaker
Hmm. Yeah, yeah. good So get a good out. So basically, good get a good out. So and I always think ignore marketing campaigns from shoe brands, if you're a beginner, because they will all tell you the things that you want to know. But really, the best the best things is one is to listen to people that you know, already that are running and choose that they can talk to you about.
00:21:27
Speaker
and you can have a look at and see. But also stuff like us where we're explaining the different shoes that you can get. So every shoe that comes out at the moment moment says it's the most comfortable, says it's the most cushioned, but that's that's not always the case. And quite often you're paying a a premium for that as well. It's a quirk of running shoes that they are all advertised as being able to do absolutely everything, yeah which makes it quite hard to pick between them based on that. Yeah. Okay. All right. Then that's that's the big question. Price for beginners. I think there's a general consensus that beginners possibly don't want to spend loads and loads of money on shoes because they're just starting out. And maybe one one side of that is if you're just starting out, you probably don't know what type of shoe you necessarily want. So you don't want to go and spend 200 quid on ah you know the latest training shoe and then realize you don't like that sort of shoe and you you're going to go somewhere else. But also,
00:22:16
Speaker
There's probably a level of, you know, you don't want spend a lot of money if you're not entirely sure if you're going to enjoy running long term. So value is a big a big thing when it comes to buying running shoes, so which obviously comes down to the big decision of buying new shoes or buying old shoes. So what do you use on that?
00:22:34
Speaker
i think you can I think as technologies kind of move on, there are some technologies that you tend to find in the newer shoes that you might not get. But we're at a point now where you go back one or two generations on the shoes and on the whole, you're going to be able to find shoes that are cheaper, that will do the job that you need them to do. you know we We sort of draw out the nuances between different generations of shoes. But if you take us all back kind of two years, we are running perfectly happily in shoes.
00:23:00
Speaker
back then we'll talk about how good they are and things might move on but you're not not necessarily sort of missing out on across the kind of broad range of shoes I don't think by going older generation and you can get some real good deals and some good value in there so I think yeah definitely keep that an open mind and I would say you don't have to, but the more you spend doesn't mean you're going to get a better shoe overall, the right shoe for you if you're lucky will be the one that's two gens older and cheaper. Yeah, i'm so I think the only problem with buying older shoes is that it's hard to get info necessarily on the ones, that find the you know how to find them, how to find the sales, that kind of thing. still So if we're sticking with the premise, we all agree, go into the running shoe shop, try on a load of shoes, try on the latest models, find out what the model is, go and then look at research at the older models, see if they're still around in running shoes, in running shops. you know in Because if you talk to the guys at the running shop, they might still have the old model there, they might be talking about sales and that kind of thing. and
00:23:52
Speaker
Definitely, I would be looking at an older shoe. The tricky bit about that is how do you know which one to go for an older shoe, other than looking at videos like this kind of video. That's the one I would definitely go for. I think that applies actually to any level, not just new runners. If you're looking for general daily shoes, there's so much value in looking at the previous gen, especially with how pricey the new shoes are now.
00:24:15
Speaker
yeah if you do Yeah, as you say, if you do that, you need to have some sort of knowledge about your... What I find with a lot of my friends who start running is that they will instantly go to the sales section of a running shoe website and they will just go through and find one that they like the look of that's really cheap and they'll buy it. They won't have any knowledge of it, that shoe is any good. And I would also say there is a reason a lot of the time why there are those shoes are in a really cheap section of the sales section of the website because Nobody bought them. um so if So even though they may seem really cheap and really good, you're probably not getting the best deal. It doesn't mean that you can't buy the shoe, that it's the same price that isn't far superior. It just means that if you're going for the easiest possible option to find a pair of running shoes when you start, it's probably looking in the sales of running shoe shops. And most people who are beginners probably know the brand names, so they'll go Nike are good, Asics are good,
00:25:07
Speaker
Hocker are good, but they won't know anything about the actual individual shoes that those brands have got. So some of those brands or all of those brands have shoes that probably aren't very good for beginners. So if you pick up one of those, you're not going to you're not going to get the right shoes. So and at the end of this video, we will be giving some of our suggestions of yes the best options that you can get from older versions. so It's really easy to get drawn into looking at those big kind of hero shoes, the big race. So I've just been through helping somebody actually find their first set of shoes. They're just training for their first half marathon. They started running in January and they went out on a Saturday, went into the Nike store and everybody's like, you need the, you need the Alpha Fly. And it's like, wow. You do, you do. We're going to say that at the end, Kieran, I think. um yeah and it's like well and they look great you know and everyone's talking about them and I've seen people they'll say all my friends have got them and I they they say these are great and yeah so you it's it's very easy to get suckered sort of into sort of moving towards those shoes but you know often as you know the the less obvious shoes are probably good for the beginners as well
00:26:06
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. So what are we saying on that one? I only go for up for sales or older versions if you know what you're buying. There are some there are some really good shoes that are fairly cheap on RRP and if you are stuck and you're not really sure and you know those those shoes will be picked out as really good options for beginners and you're prepared to pay the full price, then you know don't feel put off. like There are still really good shoes for beginners and know that are full price. But um you know if you if you look at the value and we kind of like we said at the start, we kind of think beginners often are, ah then You can definitely find it in ah the previous version or even two models back of a shoe like the Brooks Ghost, Brooks Glycerin, the Nike Pegasus. All these shoes have got 20 or 40 versions in the case of the Pegasus. You can definitely get a good deal on an older one. Okay. And then the age-old question, do you need more than one pair of shoes?
00:26:52
Speaker
I mean, i my take on this is I i think, no, not initially. if you choose ah If you choose the right pair and a good pair that yeah we talked about earlier, it's nicely versatile. A lot of your miles that you're sort of beginning probably going to be, or should generally be anyway, but going to be at the slower end. So if you've ticked off that sort of nice cushion comfort and protection, but a shoe that also can do a little bit of up-tempo, so it has that kind of broad utility, I think you can definitely get away with having one shoe. It'll obviously depend on you know your fitness as Nick said or what you're training for or what your ambitions are and what your goals are, you might want to have more but I think if you're really just starting out and you're on that sort of couch to 5k or you're just feeling your way and deciding whether or not you're actually going to like running, I don't think you need more than one shoe at that stage. I think there are plenty of shoes that will cover enough of the types of run that you're going to be undertaking for but that first part of your your running.
00:27:46
Speaker
Definitely, yeah. I agree with all of that. And also, you stick with one shoe because you don't know if you're going to like shoot what shoes you're going to like. So you bought two and you're up not really keen on that, keen on either. You may just get one shoe, you're probably not running every day. When you start out, you probably shouldn't be anyway. So, you know, you're using it every other day, every three days, whatever. Just learning if you like it, learning if you like running.
Gait Analysis for Beginners: Helpful or Not?
00:28:05
Speaker
And even if you're going straight into a marathon training block, which again, I don't think is necessarily the best idea, but lots of people do, obviously, because if you get into something like London, you're going to try and run it.
00:28:13
Speaker
start yeah start with one shoe, a nice comfortable shoe and um go from there. Plenty of time. Running's a sport for life, so there's lots of time to play more shoes down the line. Yeah, I agree. Although I've got many friends who went a bit mad when they started running and bought like four pairs of shoes and made shoes and stuff like that. um And they don't use hardly any of them.
00:28:38
Speaker
Okay then, let's talk about gate analysis, something that most beginner runners are probably here at some point, especially if they've been into running shoe shops. Gate analysis is where they don't run it in running shoe. You can do it, you don't have to do it on a treadmill, but off quite often running shoe shops will have a treadmill in there where you run on it and the people in the shop will either watch or record your running and they'll be able to see your form whilst you're running so they can see if you, the positioning of your feet and ankles and use that information to see if you need a special type of shoe. Does that cover it Nick? Yes it does. Yeah they're looking for pronation mostly and if you have like high arches and that kind of thing. Try not to use pronation because it sounded too convenient. They're going to use it in the shop so I'm saying. Easy to get wrong pronation. If you're rolling excessively inward on your foot when landing which is quite a common thing to do
00:29:27
Speaker
which is in the past would lead to automatically be recommended a stability shoe. I would say there's not much backing that up as far as we can tell like here and so at the start all the science seems to points to use a shoe that you feel you like the feel of and that's usually gonna be the best case scenario. But I would say the good thing about the state of the market right now of running shoes is there's a lot of inherently stable shoes instead of shoes aiming for stability with medial posting. There's just lots of wide bases, side walls of foam, big comfy shoes that are naturally quite stable and the kind of shoes I'd be using for easy runs anyway, and I think a beginner should be using for all runs anyway, and I wouldn't necessarily. So by all means, get getting us, this can give you some interesting information about your arches or stuff like that. But more important is just to run in a few pairs of shoes. And I would but i think the big thing is you're running in a few pair of shoes and making sure they're different types of shoes is the most important thing. So i look at 10 millimeter drop shoes, four millimeter, six millimeter drop shoes, just find something that feels nice to you. and rather than worrying about the results of this gait analysis, which, you know, it gives some information and you might want a really stable shoe. You might need a stability shoe and decide that's what feels best, but that the feeling is the most important thing, I think. And listen, I'm going to be a bit mean now, but
00:30:31
Speaker
If you think about getting kind of expert advice, you're going into a shop and you have to think about who's giving that advice and you know what their experience is and what their you know what their aim is. Their aim is to basically sell you shoes that they need to sell for the shelves as well as that. So if you're going into one of those environments in a shop where you're going to get analysis, if it's not like an independent specialist run store who maybe has a different take, if it's one of the brand stores, they're going to recommend you searches.
00:30:53
Speaker
ah little anecdote i've I've had data analysis about three, four times. Every time I've got off the treadmill, they say you need a stability shoe. I've been running for, I don't know, 15 years, whatever it is now, long time, done lots of running. I've never ever really run significantly in a stability shoe apart from for testing for this.
00:31:12
Speaker
im you fall over every three miles here and you're famous. I'm always injured. Yeah, kind and i've yeah to touch wood. I'm very rarely injured. So I think you've got to think about that. I think there's maybe a difference between the gait analysis in a store as well and going to get some specialist gait analysis might look at other things around your running form. And I think there's also a distinction between what's happening with your arches and your ankles, as it opposed to what's happening higher up the chain.
00:31:38
Speaker
and running through a bunch of different shoes and seeing, I mean, Tom, do I don't know if you remember, we actually went down and did one with Mizuna where they looked at our running economy and our running efficiency in different shoes. And I thought that was a slightly different approach that actually looked at what shoes made you kind of run more economically. And that was, it wasn't about injury, it was about actually. So I did a podcast a couple of months back now with a company based everywhere in the US, which is all about gate analysis. And if you're If you're listening to this or watching this and you're really interested in getting analysis, go and listen to that podcast because so we talk about a lot of that stuff on the podcast. But where what where where we got to with it on a lot of things is that I think getting analysis, it is useful for some people. Some people have really bad overpronation. And if you're a beginner, you don't know that. you It's a useful thing to know straight away. If if if it if it's
00:32:28
Speaker
really clear that you're going to have a problem straight away. When you start running, then that's information that you need to know. But most people, it's like marginal gains, isn't it? Like you might have a little bit of overpronation, a little bit of underpronation. It's not a problem. It's not really going to make a difference. The way that they look at it is they're looking at one side for people who are basically beginners trying to understand if they've got the okay form. The other side is elites to see if there's any marginal differences they can make with their running form and gait and everything. And they do the thing with with multiple shoes. So they'll test multiple shoes to see how your gait is in in all those different shoes. So there's a level of gait analysis. But I do think there's an argument for if you if you can get it done and it's not costing you loads of money, it's worth having done maybe initially as long as you sort of take it with a pinch of salt and just don't buy the first stability shoe that you get told to buy.
00:33:18
Speaker
But definitely, it's a nice piece of mind to go, I'm actually, there's nothing major wrong with my, you know, pronation or anything like that, that I need to worry about. Yeah, I think in general, people don't need to worry about their form as beginners. i' say No, no, no. develops yeah Form develops as you run. And when you, if you take a beginner runner, and you look at them run, they're probably gonna be running very oddly, because they've not done it before. They're not bit they They haven't got the efficiencies of the body to run, them the body hasn't worked out the mobility and everything, but the body is quite clever and it will adapt as you continue and you will just get better at running, same way as you get better at most things. So yeah, there's definitely an argument for just just go out and run and and just just just get better at it until you need to really look at something. Yeah, and if you've said injuries and stuff arise, that's when you start talking to physios and working out what thats the cause of that is. yeah
00:34:11
Speaker
And there was there's one, just to finish, like, there's there was one study this, I'm gonna read this out from 2022, I found it, it was, well, I sort of researched this for a piece a while back. And their quote is, the best general recommendation based on evidence, on the evidence available, considering the least likelihood of harm is to recommend the shoe that's lightweight, comfortable, and has minimal, as minimal pronation control technology as
Recommended Shoes for Beginners
00:34:32
Speaker
possible. That was what they found to be the one that would be the best way to recommend the shoe to people. So it's those things we were talking about, you know, it's light, it's comfortable, it feels good.
00:34:41
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's fair to say since stability shoes are introduced, the rate of running injuries hasn't changed at all in the last 40 years or whatever it is. So yeah, if they work for you, great. Please use them because they're going to be the shoe that works for you. And that's the way everything should be, I think. All right, so the the final question, the one that we all like answering, if you were to pick shoes for beginners, what would your top picks be? Kieran, do you want to start that off?
00:35:08
Speaker
I'm going to go with one that I've tested recently. It's probably a little more pricey maybe than I might recommend, but like I think overall, I always think about that. It's got good value because it is quite a versatile shoe and you can use it for all kinds of runs and it's looking pretty durable. I think tonight pegasus the Nike Pegasus 41 is a good utility shoe that has just about right amount of cushioning. It's not too heavy. It's fairly balanced. It's got good stability. I think that one's kind of a good all-rounder.
00:35:35
Speaker
I really love the Saucony Ride 17. Again, I think it's got really good balance. It's not over cushion. Some people may feel like they want a bit more, but I ah feel like it's got good protection. It's got a really nice fit from the uppers. ah Medium weight, ah pretty good value in terms of the price. I think it's 140 pounds in the UK. I think that's quite a good entry level shoe. um Those would probably be two of my big recommendations for people who were just starting out and i would so i think kian has nailed the kind of exact area i think beginner should look at which is this
00:36:07
Speaker
across all running brands there's this band of shoes that is there So it's still a performance shoe. It's a high level shoe. It's not like a, you know, one of their really cheap shoes. And it's, but it's the not the most expensive shoe in their range. It's the Pegasus from Nike. It's the ride from Saucony. It's the Nova blast from Essex. The Brooks ghost or glycerin is like a step up, but the ghost, the Puma of velocity nitro, all those shoes, I think are a really good solid option beginners. And they all have previous versions except the case of the ride, which I think is a slightly different shoe, but most of them have previous versions I think are very similar and you can look for in sales. And I think that's the band I would look at if I was beginner.
00:36:40
Speaker
And if you're looking for a more premium experience, you then look at stepping up to the Triumph from Saucony or the Glycerin from Brooks. Again, looking at older models first and foremost. ah to try and get that little bit of extra value. But yeah, it's that is that band of shoes, the ride, the Pegasus, the Nova blast, the velocity, fantastic shoes, usually in sales, usually the first shoe that goes into a brand sale, even with the newer models, Black Friday coming up, and then the previous models are always really good. And they're just quite balanced shoes, like I say, they're good for a bit of everything, they're not going to be outlandish, they're not, they're probably the shoes the brand doesn't take too many risks with, because they're really popular. Hoka Clifton, that's another one definitely sticking there.
00:37:12
Speaker
um And they're going to feel pretty good. They're designed to be accommodating to lots of different runners. So they're probably going to fit quite well. You can start to learn about your preferences. There's different drops and cushioning levels within those shoes. And I think all of them would be a great option for beginners. And then you start working out which one of them you like the most. ah So yeah, those would be, there are definitely other models from other, but Adidas is what the proof supernova rise. Yeah. yeah um what What brands have I talked about? Basically, the all brands have got one. I'm not i'm not leaving anyone out deliberately, um and it's just that band of shoes that is designed to be the biggest appeal, stick, work slots of runners, and should hopefully work for you, and will be cheap if you find a a discount. All right. Well, you've made my picks hard because you've actually covered every single shoe. I know. Every single shoe is the top of my life, quickly. um
00:37:55
Speaker
Well, I was just going to go for ah obviously the pubic loss in nitro range. I think that probably would, I don't talk about it as much as you Nick, but I still think it would be my top pick. I always, it's still the show I tell people to get if they're. I recommend that to loads of runners and they've all come back saying they've all been happy. And I often, if I'm not recommending that, I'm recommending the Brooks glycerin or ghost and they're all again, people are always pleased.
00:38:17
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I even throw in, if you did want to spend a bit more money, the new balance, 1080. Actually, I think the Nova Blast and the 1080, the most recent versions are the versions that are better for beginners. I think if you go back a version, so the Nova Blast 3 and the 1080 V13, I wouldn't suggest those two for beginners. But obviously, the fresh phone 1080 V14 is a bit pricier than... Yeah, and you don't have they're kind of that price that out at that rate. But I suppose if we were talking about shoes, you could, if you are not worried about price, you just want, you know, the ultimate cushion beginner shoe. I would probably pick the Saucony Hurricane myself as a stable, very comfortable, pretty great shoe for beginners. It's really, it's expensive. You can't go wrong with it. Yeah. Yeah. And it's actually this new Bricks, Glycerin, Max. Again, if price is no object, it's an amazing shoe for beginners, I think. and And the good thing about those shoes is that if you're a beginner and you buy those shoes, or any of those shoes you've mentioned, even the ghosts and the Pegasus, everything.
00:39:08
Speaker
When you develop and you get more into you running, maybe you start racing and you buy more shoes, those shoes shoes are still great. You still use them for yeah loads of your runs. It's not like you're wasting money on a shoe that you'll never use again. they're shoes that I've still got shoes that you know i've I've had for ages that I still use for my work or stuff and just just clicking off the miles. but um Cool. Okay. I would say on those shoes, like if you look just at the ROP, they are still look quite expensive because all running shoes are expensive these days, but people, once you're into the swing of it, you're probably not paying full price for those shoes. If just if you've got a bit of patience, if you don't have to start running tomorrow, you know you've got a bit of time. If you do have to start running tomorrow, you can probably put down decathlon and get a pretty solid pair of shoes for a hundred pounds. but
00:39:46
Speaker
I'd say if you've got be a bit of patience, especially with the sales periods coming up, you should be able to get a set of those shoes for under a hundred pounds, under a hundred dollars,
Conclusion & Credits
00:39:52
Speaker
I would think. Yeah, we've got Black Friday coming in, haven't we? And nobody has a few. Black Friday month. So there's definitely going to be deals. And Amazon actually, if you're in the US, I have to look at Amazon US a lot in my ah my my actual job these days, often has pretty great deals on brook shoes. Okay. Well, I think that'll do us the best, ah well, beginner shoe guide. and Thanks very much, guys.
00:40:15
Speaker
Thank you, Tom. Cheers. Thanks. I'm glad someone said that. Thank you, Kieran. Thank you, mate. A bit awkward now. so you like to See See you later. Bye. This episode of the podcast was presented by Tom Wheatley, Nick Harris-Fry and Kieran Alger. It was produced by Tom Wheatley. The music was by Fear of Tigers.