How to buy the best running shoes

BUYING FOOTWEAR IS GETTING SIMPLER, SO GO THE DISTANCE AND PICK THE RIGHT PAIR FOR YOUR FEET

Buy the simplest, least gimmicky shoe that feels good and works well. That doesn’t mean the lightest or most minimal, but it does mean avoiding excessive weight and unnecessary doodads.

Choosing the right running shoe has never been easy. There are so many shoe companies and so many models, each touting various high-tech features. How is a buyer supposed to make the smartest choice?

Fortunately - almost amazingly - many experts believe shoe-buying is getting simpler. You don’t need a computer algorithm. You’ll probably fare best by trusting your sense of feel. So here are some tips that will keep your on track so to speak with running shoes.

Forget minimalist styles

A few years ago, “minimalist shoes,” designed to mimic barefoot running, were all the rage. The theory might have been good, but the results weren’t. “To borrow from Winston Churchill, never has so much damage been done to so many by such little shoes,” Washington podiatrist Stephen Pribut says. In particular, many runners suffered forefoot pains and sometimes stress fractures because of the lack of cushioning. Others complained of calf strains and Achilles tendinitis.

A backlash followed quickly, but so did a new approach among shoe companies.