My beloved New Balance shoes seem to be coming to the end of their life: according to the GRG shoe tracker they only have about 100 miles left in them (which will be out before I have a chance to go to Running Bear when I'm at my parents' for New Year). So I decided to pop down to Sweatshop while the sales are on, and grab a new pair and get my gait properly checked while I was at it. Read all their advice on the website about what to wear (shorts so they could see my knees were covered up with a wrap skirt because of the temperature).
The girl who was on duty in Sweatshop was really lovely and helpful: we were chatting away about how long I'd been running and the amount I run a week (more of that anon). Turns out we have the same issue with Achilles tendons, although mine is much more pronounced. My feet seemed to pass the health test though, and she had me running on the treadmill in some neutral shoes to do the actual test - have to admit the treadmill was quite scary as there was no front to it, and I felt like I was about to run off the front of the thing!
She then talked me really clearly through my gait test - which apparently shows I have good mid-foot striking technique, but have slight hip wiggling problems because my core probably needs to be stronger (although I might still end up kicking my calves). I find it quite amusing that I basically mince when I run! The test confirmed that I am wearing the right shoes having neutral but cushioned ones (for some reason she thought my New Balance ones were support shoes, but that may be a confusion over an old model). But I was then taken through a good selection of shoes, both price-wise and styles, I think 6 or 7 pairs in all. We narrowed it down to two favourites and I said she could choose which of the two would be best ... I am now the proud owner of these rather snazzy Brooks Ghost 4s!
What was also nice was that we got into a discussion about Shockabsorbers: the run bra versus the level 4 impact bra ... and she gave me the white version of the new run bra for the price of the old one because they only had it in white and the one I wore into the shop was black. To be honest, I'm not that bothered either way (although white actually is easier to wear under work clothes!) but she was so kind not only with than but with their sock offer too (I'd accidentally picked up 2 x £6 and 1 x £9 - but she gave me the £9 ones on the 3-4-2 offer).
The only thing that slightly surprised me was being told off for aiming to run four times a week - especially as both the marathon plans I am looking at are based around that. Having chatted to a few peeps on GRW though, I think I'll stick to the four, with an allowance to drop my midweek tempo/interval/hill session on Wednesdays if I want to (for now at least) without feeling too guilty!
Basically I would give my shopping trip a 10/10 (it would have been 11 if the place was slightly easier to get to!) I wish I'd got the name of the girl who served me, but I'm definitely going to email the manager and say how good she was and how helpful. Having planned to spend circa £100 (up to £120) on shoes, I walked out with shoes, 4 pairs of socks, and a new bra for £113 ... great value!
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