Shoes

Shoes today are designed to control foot motion and provide stability. How each individual shoe does this depends mostly on different materials in the outsole (the bottom part of the shoe that contacts the ground) and midsole (the material between the insole and the outsole) as well as on lacing patterns. Makers have different goals with each shoe based on the runner's foot type, as explained below.

Foot Types

When determining the correct type of shoe, the top two terms that come up are pronation and supination. Pronation is the tendency of the foot to roll inwards as you shift your weight forward while walking or running, and supination is the tendency to roll outwards. All runners pronate and supinate at least somewhat; the type of shoe you need is determined by the degree to which you do both of these.

A quick test to see what type of shoe you will need based on the pronation and supination of your stride is the 'bathroom' test. To do this, wet your feet and then step on something that will leave a footprint. If you see little or no arch in your step, you are said to have a 'low-arch' instep. If there is a large area left by the arch of your foot, you are said to have a 'high-arch' instep. If about half of your arch shows, your instep is normal.

Over-Pronators

Seen here is the footprint of an over-pronator. There is not enough supination as this foot goes through its motions. If the footprint you leave with the bathroom test looks like this, your foot rolls too far inward as it strikes the ground. Therefore, you need a more rigid shoe than most to control the flexibility of your foot.

When finding the correct shoe, you should look for one listed as 'motion-control' or 'stability.' One technology you might be interested in is the Impact Guidance System® Asics offers.

Under-Pronators

If your instep looks like the image at the left, you have a 'high-arch' instep and are considered an under-pronator. What this means is that you will need a shoe with a lot of cushioning as your foot is less flexible and does not pronate as much as it should. With a foot that is less flexible, you need the shoe to absorb more of the impact when you strike the ground rather than send that impact up your leg.

You should look for a shoe with air or gel cushioning. Some technology you might look for includes Phylon, LunarLite® by Nike, Torsion by Adidas, and VS-1® by Asics.

Normal Pronators

If your foot pronates correctly, your footprint will look similar to the one seen here. A foot like this absorbs enough shock to make a lot of cushioning unnecessary but does not pronate so much as to need a lot of rigidity. With a foot like this, you will rarely need special shoes and thus can choose to train in a lighter one or a cushioned one, depending on your own preference.

Watches

Aside from a pair of shoes, a watch is one of the most valuable tools a runner can have. Watches allow you to pace yourself and, combined with your ability to judge your effort level, help you make your workouts effective and keep your rest days light. When looking for a watch, there are certain features you will want to be sure to have. Your watch should have all of the following qualities and features:

• Time of day
• Ability to take splits and lap times
• A timer
• An alarm
• An easy to read light-up display
• Waterproof

Other technologies that you may want in combination with your watch are GPS and heart rate monitoring capabilities. If your watch is also a GPS enabled device, tracking distances, elevation, and speed is very simple. These can be quite bulky, however, so you may want one that has GPS and another without. In being able to monitor your heart rate, you can do your threshold runs right at your lactate threshold pace, run your easy runs at 65% heart rate, or know when your heart rate has dropped to 40% before starting your next sprint.