She came for shoes

A woman walked into our store looking for new running shoes, but she left empty-handed with a big smile.

Here’s why:

She’d been dealing with persistent niggles and pains for months. Naturally, she wondered if her shoes were the problem.

After all, she had bought two pairs in the past eight months.

So we checked them out. No red flags. Her gait looked solid too.

So I asked her more about her running.

She told me she runs three times a week, no races planned, just chasing an old goal: running 10K under 5:30/km pace again. Right now, she was hovering around 5:45/km.

Then I asked:
"Is this the pace you run every time you head out?"

“Yes,” she said. “Because I want to hit that 5:30 again.”

And there it was.

I looked her in the eye and said:

“You’re basically running three 10K races every week. That’s why your body hasn’t had a chance to recover.”

She was stunned.

But then she remembered; her Garmin had been flagging every run in red. Zone 5. Max effort.

I told her to take a step back. Ease into different paces. Give her body a break. Only then would she really know if she needed new shoes, or just a smarter training approach.

She left with clarity, not new shoes.

The takeaway?

Not every ache means you need new gear.

Sometimes, you need new insights.

Thank you for reading 👟

- Tim

P.S. Wondering if your own aches and pains are caused by your shoes? I offer personalized shoe consultations where we look at your footwear, training load, and running mechanics to figure out the real next step, whether that’s a new pair of shoes or a smarter way to train.