Girls Running Shoes Guide

The most important piece of equipment you need to buy when you are a female runner is your girls running shoes. For men, picking the right footwear is also a critical task, but women’s anatomies present the kind of difficulties that could lead to injury problems if girls are not extremely careful in their choice of shoes. Remember that the men’s sneakers are different in several ways to the women’s versions. So it pays to go to a specialist running supply store, at least the first time you buy a pair for serious running. If your feet are broader, it will not necessarily be fine just to go for the men’s ones, as these have more padding and will be substantially heavier than they need to be. A good retailer will have knowledgeable staff who can assist you; there will be a brand available that can cater for any foot size and shape requirements.

The worst thing you can do when you buy running shoes is to go in a general sports store, pick up a pair, try them for size and then make your purchase. Because of women’s wider hip measurements, the action of running can put extra strain on knee joints, and cause the arches of the feet to collapse inward each time the foot plants on the ground – called overpronation. This is basically what happens with everyone – women and men – who have flat feet. Running shoes for girls with this type of action need to have extra support and cushioning in order to absorb shock effectively. Without this protection it is easy to pick up injuries, the extremes of which may even include bone fractures. The key to buying pronation running shoes is to look for ones that have words like “stability” or “motion control” on the box. Some brands try to incorporate this type of language into their model names, for example the Saucony Grid Stabil.

You might be somebody who has very high arches, and this can also cause problems when running, as your feet can roll outwards as you land – called supination or underpronation. If this is the case for you, you will need different girls running shoes, which have a softer, more flexible midsole, and offer stability and extra cushioning to protect your arches. The blurb on the shoebox should mention words like “cushioned” or “flexible” for this type of running shoe.

If you turn out to have slightly narrower hips than average, and also do not have high arches, you might have a neutral gait when running, and you will be best off in this case to opt for neutral running shoes, which have some cushioning for the small amounts of perfectly natural overpronation that most runners exhibit.

So that covers how you go about choosing a girls running shoe based on the examination of your foot when it strikes the ground. You might be wondering how you figure out which one is you. Are you an overpronator, a supinator or do you have a neutral gait? Luckily, there is a test you can do fairly easily at home called the “wet foot” test. Simply tape a paper grocery bag to the floor, wet your foot in a bowl of water, and then walk over the bag leaving a footprint. If there is no curvature inwards at the middle of the foot, between the heel and the ball, then you have flat feet and need running shoes to control overpronation. If the middle part of the footprint is extremely narrow, it is likely you have high arches and need to buy supination running shoes that offer more flexibility and cushioning. If you have anything in between, you have a neutral gait, and should buy neutral running shoes.

This is a pretty non-technical approach, and it is advisable, the first time you decide to get some shoes for more serious running, to go to a specialized store which caters only to runners. When I get mine, the staff let me try on some shoes and then get me running on a treadmill while they film my action with a high speed camera. Then they can see (and show me) in detail how my foot behaves during footfall. So this is a far better way of determining which type of girls running shoes you’ll need.

An extra tip is to take your old ones with you, especially if you have been getting aches and pains in the knees or ankles. Often you will see that the tread has begun to wear away on just one side of the shoe, and that is a dead giveaway that you are probably wearing the wrong type – and it’s also a great demonstration of why you should get new running shoes often.

Now all that remains is for you to find yourself a paper bag and a bowl of water, and get testing!