Cheap Running Shoes Are Not A Good Idea

04 June 2009 | Fitness Tips

I went for a five mile run this morning, just did a couple of laps of my local reservoir, a very enjoyable little run as one usually sees plenty of other runners and dog walkers alike.

It was while I was running this morning that I thought back to when I first started running, as a means of fitness rather than just as part of my normal activity, which would have been just after university. It was during these first few months of running that I had lots of injuries around my ankles and shins. At one point I went to see a doctor about it and he said I was getting shin splints.

Shin splints are a very annoying little niggle of an injury that you can get by doing too much running too quickly after not having been very active for a period of time. This is exactly what happened to me, I hadn’t done much sport through uni, and then after uni had decided I would get fit and trim, and so threw myself into running and going to the gym with much gusto. It was this over-eagerness that probably caused me to get shin splints, or could it have been the fact that I started my training in an old pair of trainers?

My belief is that it’s a combination of the two, since I’ve had shin splints, I’ve taken great care to wear the best footwear I could afford for running. In doing this, I’ve been to a proper running shop and tried dozens of pairs of running shoes before deciding on Asics Gel’s as the best shoe for me.

Since I’ve been wearing Asics running shoes I’ve never had shin splints, though this is by no means a reason to go out and switch to Asics - it’s important to realise that different people have different running styles (which may be better served by New Balance, Saucony, Adidas or Nike), but what I would definitely advise to anyone thinking of getting back into running is to get a good pair of running shoes and don’t worry about the cost too much!

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