Running Shoes: Too Many Choice

Walk into any running shoe store nowadays, and the products will practically jump off the wall. Subtlety of design has not been emphasized in the marketing of running shoes. The more bumps, ridges, racing stripes, vents, stitches, and colors that gym shoes have, the better. Although not all running shoes have horrible, garish designs, generally the more expensive ones do. If you want to buy the top rated Nike shoes to look like the coolest kid in school, you have to be willing to shell out a good bit of dough. However, the quality of athletic shoes is not determined by their flash or their price. If you are willing to look a little bit deeper, you will find the shoes that are perfect for you.

Running shoes themselves are a pretty recent development. When I was growing up, gym shoes were gym shoes. There was not all that much variety, and the different brands all went through the same trends together. When one shoe company started to add more padding to help people avoid injuries, the other ones all followed suit. The shoes everyone wore back then were probably the ancestors of what people call “cross training shoes” nowadays. They were designed to be used in a lot of different sports and activities.

I can still remember the first time I got to wear a pair of actual running shoes. You see, I was an all around jock, but I only owned a couple different pairs of tennis shoes. I had my soccer cleats for playing soccer and football, and my gym shoes for basketball and track. Those running shoes, however, were something different. They were lighter, springier, and more flexible than anything I had had the chance to wear before. I felt faster on my feet from the very first time that I put them on. They soon became my very favorite pair of shoes in the world!

I know that things have advanced in some ways since then. First of all, there are far better synthetic materials available, giving the companies the ability to make high-tech running shoes which are lighter and more flexible than ever before. Even so, it seems like something has been lost. Everything is so completely geared towards marketing that you can't help but think that the jogging shoes aren't nearly as well made as they would be if they weren't so completely tailored towards looks.