Buying your first pair of running shoes?

Decision paralysis

As a runner, buying a new pair of shoes for munching those miles can be overwhelming. Not only are there 10s of brands, there are also 10s of models made by each of the brands, and a new version of these models released every year.

So how do you go about choosing a pair to buy? The most obvious step to take is to go into a sports shop and ask to try a few pairs on, followed by awkwardly jogging around the shop in them. If you’re lucky, they’ll have a treadmill and an assistant who can review your running gait.

Unfortunately, beyond the assistant seeing if you pronate enough to need a support shoe, other factors aren’t usually considered. Such as what type of support you need, like a stiff heel counter or high arch/lateral support to help.

Even when just being checked for pronation, the smallest sight of it prompts the assistant to recommend a support shoe. Yet only 10-15% of people pronate 15 degrees or more to benefit from wearing a pair. Anything less than that can mostly be rectified by doing strength work.

Because of there being so many factors, the only real advice (without getting technical) is to try a few pairs on and jog around the shop, before settling on whatever feels the most comfortable. For extra reassurance you can walk around your house in the shoes for a day or two, to see if they rub over a longer period, before deciding to return them or not.

Buying your first pair of shoes

When it comes to buying your first pair, you may be one of the lucky few who jogged around the shop, and the shoes turned out to be fine, great! But just as often, runners find the shoes comfortable enough in the shop, only to realise that they cause discomfort after 1-2 longer runs outdoors. This is why a large portion of runners get stuck in a cycle of buying lots of shoes with various features, unable to find a pair that “just works”.

I could go on about how different pairs of shoes are better for different sized people, distances and terrain etc. But just finding a pair that’s comfortable for everyday running is a challenge. So let’s start there, by using a theory…

Using the power of theory, the Goldilocks zone!

Okay, so you probably haven’t heard of this term used in the running community. But it is used in the scientific community to describe when a planet has just the right environmental factors to sustain life. Even so, it is sometimes muttered by a few who are serious about their running shoes, like a Youtuber who does reviews, or someone who works at a shoe manufacturing factory.

When it comes to running, a “goldilocks shoe” is a term used to describe when a shoe has the features that match the specifications of what would exist if you took all the shoes in existence, and theoritically merged them all together. Essentially taking the average of all their measurements. Which leads us onto the next question…

Why should I care about the Goldilocks zone when buying a new pair of shoes?

What do you think the “average” pair of running shoes should look like? In our case, even though the measurements are average, it doesn’t mean the shoes themselves are average when it comes to performance or comfort! All we’re interested in, is the measurements.

The brilliance of the goldilocks theory is that when all things are considered, most people should be fine running in a pair. Unless you have a need that sits somewhere on the extreme end of the spectrum (like a severe pronation or an injury). Otherwise, a pair of shoes in the goldilocks zone should be the safest bet. Especially when entering the shoe buying world for the first time. Even a more serious runner might buy a pair of “goldilocks” shoes to rack the miles up with, just because they’ll generally know what to expect.

The Goldilocks measurements

So let’s get into it. Well, it will come as no surprise that if you consider the midsole for a moment, one would expect it to have balanced cushioning, with moderate flexibility, depending on the compound and how it was constructed. Now, unless you really want to get into testing the hardness of the midsole, by using a ‘Shore A durometer’ tool, you’ll have to rely on a shoe review to give you an idea. Generally, a Pebax based foam for cushioning is more modern than an EVA compound, which will impact the price you pay. A Pebax foam is generally more responsive (for better performance), but less durable.

Beyond this, looking up the following measurements will get you most of the way to finding a pair of “goldilocks” running shoes:

The stack height of the shoe (25mm in the forefoot and 33-35mm in the heel stack)
And the heel drop (8-10mm)

So outside of a balanced midsole, and the stack height/heel drop mentioned above, most shoes that veer outside of these measurements tend to be built with specific needs in mind. Despite advertising that tries to convince us otherwise, as if all shoes are made for all runners!

Before I finish, if there’s a pair of shoes you like the look of, do a search for its name at https://runrepeat.com/ . This is one of the sites I use the most to see what the specs of a shoe are before I buy them. If the shoes don’t fit into the goldilocks zone (spoiler alert: most won’t), you can usually find out on that site how the shoe will perform, with a large degree of accuracy.

Shoes that fit into the goldilocks zone

So now you know what it takes for a shoe to be in the goldilocks zone, what shoes fit into this category? Well, before telling you what they are. I’d like to finish off by saying that goldilocks shoes won’t be the solution to all of your shoe woes. Knowing the information on this page is just the beginning to understanding what you’re getting yourself in for!

But on a more reassuring note, if you don’t know where to start when buying your first pair of shoes, consider your first pair to be ones that fit in the goldilocks zone. It’s statistically the safest bet, and usually one of the more affordable options. Because you can buy a previous years version of a shoe, and be safe knowing that they won’t be too different from their latest release.

After all that, if you want to start window shopping, check out my article here that lists the most popular shoes that fit into the goldilocks zone. The vanilla flavour ice cream of the running shoe world!

PS Make sure you buy your running shoes half a size up to what you normally wear for your everyday shoes. So there’s a thumbnail width gap between the end of your big toe and the end of the shoe 😉