Runner's Corner - An Awesome shoe store

So I stopped by this place called Runner's Corner in Orem, Utah this past week. I liked who I talked to so I did a little research on the place and found out that they are really knowledgeable on the subject of Running. I found a blog online that the manager writes for, and I read an article that he wrote on Plantar Fasciitis. It was quite good. You can find that article here: BarefootRunning.com. I like how they give steps to take to not only find healing, but also to strengthen the foot. In all of my appointments with podiatrists, not one went into how to strengthen my feet now that I'm not feeling plantar pain all of the time. They just made sure that my orthotics were doing their job.

So after reading this article and posting some on the comments section of that blog article, I decided to go in to Runners Corner. You can check out their website here: RunnersCornerUtah.com. Golden helped me out. He first asked about my running/exercise history, and asked about any injuries that I had. I explained the plantar fasciitis issues. He then grabbed a pair of shoes in my size and had me run a little while he examined my running style. It's interesting because several other shoe stores told me that I had problems with over pronation, but I had looked this up on the internet and it never made sense to me based on how I thought I ran. He told me I was very supinated and that shoes made for extreme overpronation would actually cause me more problems with supination. I was right and he confirmed it. I would have bought a motion control shoe for severe overpronators had I not talked to Golden first.

So they know their stuff at Runners Corner. After checking my run style he brought me some shoes to test my foot width and then after a few tests he had me try on one shoe from two different pairs and go for a run. We did this a few times until I found a couple of pairs that I really liked. I tried them out and then decided on the pair I liked. I found it interesting that the pair he was suggesting to me was the cheapest non-clearance shoe on their shelves. He recommended the Asics Gel-Fortitude 3's for stability and because I would be doing much more than running in these shoes (Basketball and Insanity). I found it interesting that he recommended completely different shoes for the guy next to me because he had a different running style and different injuries.

So I will be going in today to buy these shoes, a pair of soft orthotics, and possibly getting my shoes "zeroed". I'm not sure what the real term was for this. But basically they remove a portion of the sole in order to make the shoe more balanced so you don't heel strike as much.

Golden talked to me about proper form when running, how to phase out my orthotics and strengthen my feet so I never need orthotics again, and helped me feel much more confident in spending $100+ on the shoes and accessories. I felt like I was being sold like crazy at other shoe stores. They all kept trying to tell me to buy this $150 Kayano shoe that Golden explained would actually hurt me because it is not for my running style.

Runner's Corner in Orem is awesome and I highly recommend any of you to stop in if you are looking for a pair of running shoes or if you are interested in learning more about how to run properly, how barefoot running works, and if you want to hear someone speak intelligently about the sport...