How I found good running shoes without going to a store in person
Here's how I found the perfect shoe for me to start my training. I hope this helps you too!
Here's how I found the perfect shoe for me to start my training. I hope this helps you too!
It's tough finding good running shoes, especially if you don't have the opportunity or resources to go to a running store in person.
That's me = I don't have the budget to drop more than $100 for a pair of running shoes. And even if I did, I don't have the luxury of time to trek out to the city to go to a shoes store.
So off to the Internet I go.
Before anything else, I recommend taking a shoe quiz. I've taken most of them, and Brooks' Shoe Finder quiz is the best one IMO. They really get into the details. Check it out here: https://www.brooksrunning.com/en_us/shoefinder/
After the quiz, I had a fairly decent idea of what I needed to get.
Next step was to research "best beginner running shoes."
Kofuzi had some recommendations, but many of them were above my budget. But he did say something that stayed with me: Look up the best rated shoes the year prior to get a good deal.
So I looked up the best running shoes for women in 2022, and happened to find the Brooks Ghost 14.
It had solid reviews on Amazon and from experts on YouTube as well. So I decided to get this pair—but that's just half the battle.
Next, I needed to figure out which size to get. I have wide feet and that's a big consideration too. Plus, I'm one of those folks who are loathe to return anything, so I really wanted to get this right.
Some questions I had:
- Do they have wide sizing option
- Do I need to size up? down? true to size?
- And what about socks?
Luckily, some good running people left super helpful info under the "Customer questions & answers" section of the Ghost 14 product page. All I had to do was search for "size up" and got my Qs answered:
I read a lot of the reviews and found out that the socks were factored in the "size up" advice given out. When my questions were answered, I finally bought myself a pair.
I got my shoes on Saturday and was just over the moon when I tried it on with socks coz it fit so well. It was comfortable yet snug.
Yay!
All in all I had to keep myself in check. Not to go too crazy. Or spend too much.
I'm beginner, no need to get all fancy.
P.S. Today is strength training day!