Georgia Runs

New shoes:

I bought a new pair of Brooks Radius 7s, and I love them.

Now the cool part, I’ve been running for a few years now, and I have bought many pairs of running shoes. I’ve had most major brands, but I have bought them on recommendations of fellow runners. And I bought them because of something I’ve read, and I even bought a pair because the looked cool, what a joke.
Now that I have started marathon training it is so important to stay injury free, I knew what I had to do. I needed to get a professional opinion and so many people recommended the

Big Peach Running Company (BPRC). (Note: that is not me on the tread) I don’t get into the city (Atlanta) much unless I am with the wife and kids, and we are usually going to the Zoo or to see a show, so a 90 minutes stop to a running store is out of the question. And I knew I needed to go to the BPRC by myself, I did not want distractions, enough said. So, I needed to have my oil changed in the car, so I packed my bike and dropped the car off, and off on the bike I went.

First impressions of the store were:
I found a place that has everything I needed to run. No more having to buy things unseen off the net, or settling for something that is sub par, or some junk that the Big Box stores sell because theirs more profit in it. I found my place for running gear.
So I road down maybe 5 miles and it was hot outside 100 degrees out, no kidding 100. I showed up to the store sweating and with my bike. They let me bring my bike in the store so it would be safe, thank you. I got inside and started looking around, I saw they had plenty of nutrition to choose from. I like GU brand gels and they are hard to find, and they have them, so already I was pleased. They had lots of hydration belts, they had lots of cool shiny object, and they had stuff that took batteries. All kidding aside they have the stuff you need.

Ok, to the main event, my new shoes.
After browsing a bit, and cooling down, I was still dripping sweat. I told the sales person that I wanted to get fitted for a pair of new running shoes. So we started talking about what kind of running I was doing, and I said I was training to run a marathon and I had just started adding some miles to my running. At the same time the sales person had me stand on a measuring device that pressure sensitive and connected to a plasma monitor. Now this thing was worth the trip to the store alone. On the display is showed my shoe size, my width, my arch height and it showed is color where I was putting my weight, the display looked like a thermal image of the bottom of my foot. So we continued of conversation about my running and I told the fitter that I had some Achilles tendonitis down around my heel and I thought it was because ill fitting shoes and my running style (style, not sure what to call what I do). So with this knowledge the fitter put me in a very neutral shoe and had me get on a treadmill and while I was running he captured it on video. After a few moments he stopped me and then he analyzed the video frame by frame. At the same time he was showing me what was going on and explained to me in easy to understand language in what categories I fell into. So with all of my information in hand he went into the back storage room and came out with 4 options for me to try. I tried a Nike, Mizuno, Asics and a pair of Brooks. After a few minutes in each I would record my thoughts mentally and tried on the next pair. With each pair the fitter would tell how they should fit and technically each pair would do for me. I am a super geek I wanted to hear it all. In all the Brooks felt the best, and after a few days and just 14 miles I can say I got a good pair.

I paid the same price I would have paid at a Big Box store, but the service I received was so much better. So, please go buy a pair of shoes from a trained fitter and support your local running shop.

Alright, what a love fest. I do not gain any financially benefit from this post. This just my opinion and I hope you gain some knowledge from it. Now, I do not want to discourage any financially benefits….

So checkout the Big Peach Running Store, and get professionally fitted.

-B