Are you wearing the right shoes?

I recently had a trip back home to Adelaide. It was definitely nicer running in cooler weather and not having to get up at the crack of dawn.

Making the most of being back and close to services that aren't available, I took myself to RunDNA at Hindmarsh. The people working there are runners and are very knownlegable.

Previously, I had been to a place and had my running gait assessed and look at with different types of shoes - this was a very long time ago (more than 10 years ago). Currently, running shoes are changing at such a rapid rate. It is hard to keep up with the different types but also changes for each model between versions as this is happening more often then they used to.

Having an injury history myself, I realise the importance of getting the right shoe that fits and not necessarily the coolest and trendiest shoe.

At Run DNA I had an assessment with my favourite long run shoe, New Balance 1080. They place accelerometers on your shoes and video to collect a lot of different data about your foot strike, where you push off, contact time, pronation speed in stance phase and the list goes on. So I was pleased that in my 1080, my left pretty much equaled by right! That did give me a sense of relief as it means that I rehabed my ACL reconstruction well but also that I am doing enough to maintain. Not to mention that I did well with selecting this shoe myself without a fitting.

After the initial assessment you get to try on other various shoes and then check the statistics to see if it improves or worsens the numbers. This is the valuable part! The 1080 new model was pretty much on par to the old. I tried the Sacauny Tripumph and it pretty much faired the same as the 1080s. I went out on a whim and tried the Hoka Mach X2 - no go. I lost my symmetry which is definitely a sign that it's not the shoe for me.

The assessment is free if you buy a pair of shoes. So if you are in need of a new pair and in Adelaide then I would highly recommend you go see them at Run DNA.

For those that aren't, they still offer an online consult which is definitely great for those that live in remote places and don't have access to these cool services. So I would highly recommend as this can make the difference between a shoe that lasts and prevents injury and provides great comfort.

You can book using the link below:

https://rundna.com.au/pages/fitting-services