New kicks

I'm about 800 miles into my first real pair of running shoes, and am retiring them. For my first pair, the lovely folks at JackRabbit put me in a pair of New Balance 1225s, a klunky stability shoe with a large, stable heel profile. It has a nice roomy toe box, and served me well. My problem with the shoe is that as I worked on my form I found the heel getting in my way. In any other shoe I would have been midfoot striking.

I had my gait analyzed again today at JackRabbit. I asked to see something less klunky, and he put me in a pair of Asics (I forget the model). He was quite surprised that I was running in the NB 1225s, and even asked, "You sure we put you in those?" I explained that I bought them when I first started running, and that immediately after the purchase started focusing on my form. The Asics were too skinny in the toebox for me, and the next pair of shoes was the Mizuno Wave Rider 12s, in a 2E. They fit like a glove, have lovely arch support, a skinny enough heel profile and a roomy toe box. They feel much lighter, and a bit softer than my NBs. Most importantly, the heel profile is low enough that it doesn't force a heel strike on me.

I'm stoked on these shoes, and hope that they carry me through a couple long runs comfortably. If they do, I'll pick up a couple more pairs and start rotating my shoes like a good boy.