Shoes

If you are new to walking or running, you may be asking “What kind of shoe should I wear?”

If you are a walker, I recommend either a walking or running shoe. I find that my shins sometimes hurt when I power walk in my running shoes, but that my runners are okay for less vigorous walks. The key is to wear a shoe that is comfortable for 45 minutes or so along with a good pair of socks.

If you are new to running, I recommend a running shoe (duh). These come in various styles, flavors, colors, and price ranges. When you try on a shoe, walk around the store a lot. Make sure your arch feels supported, your ankle bones and your heel feel good, and your toes don’t feel either squooshed or too airy. And make sure your wallet feels okay. Most of the time you’ll do fine choosing a shoe that feels comfortable in the store, but sometimes you will go wrong. Very wrong. It’s like a bad relationship—cut it short and move on.

But if you’re already a runner, you probably have a pair of shoes you swear by (Asics Kayano for me) and the perfect pair of socks (Balega for my tootsies).

You’ll know you are a real runner or walker when you have accumulated several pairs of shoes in various stages of wear. You will designate some of them to be rain shoes, some to be mud shoes, some to be rotated in, and some fit only for Halloween costumes. And some will be called “losers."

If you need help with shoes or socks, I highly recommend my pals at DB Sports. IMHO, there is no better running shoe store in Southeastern Mass. Of course, it helps that it’s only 1.87 miles from my house, according to MapMyRun.