In search of the perfect running shoe

For as long as most of us have been running, we have continually searched for the perfect running shoe. You know, the one that would (as the old PF Flyer sneaker ad suggested) make us "run our fastest and jump our highest." I freely admit to being guilty on this point. I have run a lot of miles over a lot years and am still on the lookout for that perfect blend of lightweight cushioning that supports properly and doesn't get in my way.

Like many of you, I have run in a wide variety of shoes. If you are new to running, say just in the past 30 years, you likely don't remember a time when there weren't a plethora of running shoes to choose from. You could always go into a specialty store and find a wide variety of shoes from some of the same companies that were around 40 years ago. But in the '60s and early '70s, this was not the case.

I remember buying a pair of Adidas Italias to train in for high school track. They weren't running shoes. More closely resembling an indoor soccer shoe, my white leather Italias, with the green stripes and suction cup sole, were a huge step up from the canvas basketball sneakers most of us wore.

For racing, I saved my money until I could afford the $24.95 required to purchase my first real running shoes - a pair of Adidas Tokyo 64 spikes. These were beautiful, if shoes can be considered beautiful. The blue kangaroo leather spikes, weighing a mere 135 grams, were the lightest racing shoes in the world. These would get me through countless races throughout high school and my first year of college. They were indeed my prized possession.

The early '70s saw the introduction of the Tiger Cortez in Madison. Indeed, this was the first pair of true running shoes many of us ever wore. The leather upper was heavy by today's standards and the midsole sheet of EVA, so progressive for its time, offered only moderate cushioning with little support. Yet here was a real running shoe. Phil Knight of Nike fame thought enough of the Cortez to make it one of the first shoes he and Oregon's Bill Bowerman sold. Eventually Nike made their own direct copy of this shoe and the company took off from there.

The great thing about the Cortez and the shoes that immediately followed in its path (the Nylon Cortez and the truly innovative Waffle Trainer) was that it piqued runners' interest in finding the "perfect" shoe. It gave us something to talk about, to fret about and to celebrate. Unlike today, when shoe companies introduce new models every few months and discontinue old favorites, many of us would wait anxiously for the latest and greatest innovation.

Nike's first "Air" shoe, the Tailwind, was a momentous step forward (or so may of us thought) in running shoe technology. What could be better than a shoe whose midsole was filled with a special gas that would cushion forever and support our feet like nothing that had ever come before? Granted, at $60, the Tailwind was very expensive, but the LD 1000 had previously broken the $50 barrier and New Balance was soon to introduce the 990, whose $100 price tag would induce true sticker shock.

Like most runners at that time, I was always in search of a new best shoe. Most of my purchases were done trial and error. The Brooks Vantage was supposed to control overpronation, whatever that was. According the running magazines, people pronated too much when they ran and this caused injuries. The problem was that I got injured running in the Vantage because I did not over pronate. Who knew?

The Nike LD 1000, with its super wide and super high heel, was supposed to cushion perfectly and address stability issues. This seemed like an excellent solution. Who doesn't want stability and cushioning? We learned that a flaired heel was a good thing. But too much flair in the heel actually decreased stability and wearers got injured. The search continued.

Perhaps the best thing to come out of all of this trial and error is that over time runners and running shoe companies learned how the foot reacts to the stress of running. After running thousands and thousands of miles in shoes that really were not designed for my foot mechanics, I learned what I needed in a running shoe.

As time went on, shoe companies recognized that while most people pronate when they run (this is the movement from the lateral side of your foot as it contacts the ground to the medial side of your foot as it rolls through to the next step), not everyone pronates to the same degree. Shoe companies began to design running shoes for a wider audience.

Even the running magazines backed off identifying the "best" running shoe. People were beginning to realize that "best" meant different things to different runners. As a side note, my favorite silly shoe ranking came in Consumer Reports (not known as a knowledgeable sports, running and fitness journal) when it picked the "best" running shoe - a shoe that had been discontinued a year earlier.

Eventually, enough running shoe experts emerged that finding the perfect shoe for the individual became at least plausible. Now you can go into a running specialty store and select from several models that are designed appropriately for your particular foot shape and running mechanics. Trying on different models within a common category will enable you to determine which shoe fits your foot the best. The shoes may not make you run your fastest or jump the highest, but they should allow you to train as much as you like while minimizing the likelihood of injury.

After more than 40 years of running in hundreds of different shoes, I'm still looking. I know what to look for and am still excited when I find a shoe that I think will work. I have learned that high cost is not necessarily indicative of the correct shoe for me. Indeed, some of my favorites have been lightweight trainers without many bells and whistles that fall in the middle price tier.

We have come a long way from those leather Cortez trainers. I have a new pair in the car right now. I think I'll go give them a test run. Who knows, they may just be perfect.

Good running to you!