The Search for Jogging Shoes

The Search for Jogging Shoes

For many years, I found it difficult to buy shoes. Forget about the cheap stores. They rarely sell AAAA or AA widths in shoes. But I did find some stores that sold my width. I guess that, over the years, people’s feet have grown wider and wider or the shoe manufacturers have found that selling to the majority is the way to go. Or maybe living in a small town, the choices are limited.

Today, I searched the web for running shoes. The web, I’ve found, is not a good place to buy shoes unless you know exactly what shoe and how they feel. I usually end up sending the shoes I buy online back because they did not fit right.

The old shoes I had were old and were coming apart. I should have thrown them out a year ago, but the replacement shoes were always too big or hurt in unusual places after a while. The old shoes also were hurting my heel because all the cushioning in the shoes was gone. I finally gave up and bought some new shoes today. They are Asics Gel-1179 and I’ve never had any by this manufacturer. They, too, are a little big, but it was the best I could find at my local sport store. They do have good cushioning, which is good, because I jog or walk briskly every day.

I used to wear Adidas about ten or so years ago because they were narrower than most sport shoes. However, the ones I tried on today had very little cushioning, perhaps made for walking. I don’t think I could have used them even for walking, but they were narrower.

All the shoes I saw were made in China. Surprise! Just like everything else. Maybe the Chinese have one width and they use that for most all the shoes, the perfect template.

When I was in college, a friend of mine had a hard time buying shoes because of her size. It wasn’t that she had a narrow width, but it was because she wore a size 4 or 4-1/2. Luckily, she had a friend who owned a shoe store. Most of the display models were that size and she bought her shoes at a discount.

If I ever find that one lucky narrow width jogging shoes, I will buy several pairs because I know I will never find one again. I’m sure a bigger city like Houston would have just what I need, but, for now I will live with my new shoes and see what happens.