Shoes

In the recent Delhi half marathon, my usual running shoe - the Nike Shox that has been with me for 3 years finally gave up its soul (sole :-)). The sole cracked near the arch making it really painful to run continuously. After much deliberation, I finally figured this was the reason for the pain after my Delhi half.

I have a New Balance which I run in as well. I needed to get another shoe so I could have two when I run. Running theory indicates one must swap shoes every run (especially if you run every day) to allow the shoe to decompress. Given my weight, I agree.

Thus began the search for the new shoe. I wanted to make sure I found the right shoe. I have had wrong shoes before - shoes that pinch at the toes, hurt at the arch or heel. I did my research on Runner's World, Running and Living, orkut, etc. Rahul Verghese of Running and Living was helpful in suggesting what I should look for in a shoe. Sneakerologist on Orkut had more specific recommendations

This was the final list of shoes from Sneakerologist
1) Nike Air Max Moto 5
2) Nike Air Pegasus 2007
3) Adidas Supernova Cushion 6 (CSH6)
4) Adidas Adistar Cushion 6
5) Adidas Megabounce+

I spent Saturday afternoon trying out shoes at Adidas and Nike. Nike had a great deal on their Air Max 360, but only on one colour combination. The staff at Nike tried to convince me that I should go in for an outmoded shoe.

The service at Adidas was much better. I tried both the Adistar and the Supernova. Eventually I ended up buying the Supernova Cushion 6. I have had it since Sunday and been wearing it constantly to break it in.

(pix credit: yatego.com)

The buying experience especially for running shoes is not good at all. The staff is inexperienced and does not even know the features of their own shoes, let alone having any context of running. Add to this, the fact that the stores are franchises and there seems to no coordination with any sort of a central brand theme - whether it is Nike or Adidas.
I also experienced post purchase dissonance when I discovered that a friend had bought a shoe at Pune Central where they had a buy one get one free deal on purchases above a certain price. In the final analysis, it comes down to "buyer beware"