Link to 16 shoes reviewed.

Choosing a Walking Shoe

By Dave and Paula Harkin

You’re a walker and you’re proud. Let your next steps this spring be in the perfect shoes. What is perfect for you? Perfection has more to do with identifying your personal set of physical characteristics and your walking goals than it does with laces, uppers, midsoles, cushioning devices, and outsoles. Here are some guidelines to help you categorize yourself to find a shoe that matches your individual needs.

Forget the leather, clean white, unassuming walking shoes of yore. Walkers have found a new freedom in the declaration of their passion. With these declarations comes a resounding statement: “I am an athlete.” The best way to find the right shoe for you is to stride on into your local running and walking specialty store. Although this may seem a bit imposing, it’s important to find a service-oriented company that will evaluate your gait, that is, how your foot strikes the ground and how it relates to the rest of your body. Without watching you walk, recommendations could be made based on something besides your individual needs.

Although some research suggests that lower heel heights, or more flexible arch structure is more conducive to a walking motion, our practical experience leads us to place stability as the number one concern for anyone moving forward. We find the stability spectrum to be comprehensively addressed within the running category. Consequently, most walkers are better off in running shoes simply because the running category covers a wider range of stability needs.

Generally, there are three types of walkers: fitness walkers, speed walkers, and racewalkers. The first category is comprised primarily of walkers who have some short-range fitness and health goals. Generally, fitness walkers are more concerned with day-to-day health than with speed. The second, and probably fastest growing category is comprised of athletes who may not wish to compete, but who have some regard for speed, efficiency, and mechanical transition. The third category is comprised of technical racewalkers who use a specific technique of pronounced heel to toe transition. Racewalking is oftentimes judged and is a learned skill. These athletes are after lightweight, low profile, and flexible racing shoes. Many speed and racewalkers alternate between ultra light racing and speed training shoes and those used for more moderate paced training walks.

Within these general categories are three stability or performance needs:

Neutral: biomechanically efficient with few to no previous injuries.

Stability: mild over-pronation or rotation of the foot from outside of the heel to inside the big toe. These walkers have some propensity to injury and possibly have an over-the-counter insole or custom orthotic. They also make up about 60% to 70% of all walkers.

Motion Control: Some also refer to this category as Motion Enhancement. These athletes may have already experienced some mild to severe injuries in the foot, ankle, knees, or lower back areas and have been identified as having biomechanics that have a higher rate of injury. Thus, motion control is concerned with the prevention of injury.

The following is a compilation of the “best of“ for each category. Although many reviews include the technical aspects of the shoe such as cushioning devices and weight, these are better left for the researchers and lab results. Focus on fit, function, and feel. Let a professional guide you through the stability spectrum and you will be on the right track.

Portland Running & Walking Company has served the community for over nine years. Paula is the founder of RunwithPaula Events, Inc. Dave, a two-time Newport Marathon champion, has worked in specialty running retail for over eight years. Both Paula and Dave also coach for the marathon training group Portland Fit. Portland Running & Walking Company has two locations on 11355 SW Scholls Ferry Rd. in Beaverton, 503-524-7570; and on the corner of SE Grand and SE Morrison in Portland, 503-232-8077.

Dress Shoe to Walking Shoe –
How to Avoid Injury

By Dr. Ray McClanahan

A common cause of injury to the foot or leg of a walker occurs when the individual goes from wearing a dress shoe to work and then transfers to an active shoe to walk in.

This occurs because of the dramatic design differences that exist between dress and active footwear. Dress shoes often have a higher heel than active shoes and dress shoes often are more restrictive in the toe box than active shoes. The dress shoe, which is not as healthy for the feet and legs of a walker, is also worn for a much longer portion of the day (10-12 hours) than the active shoe (1-2 hours).

When a walker positions her feet and lower legs in dress shoes for the majority of her day and then switches to a shoe that is structurally different, she is inviting injury. The principle of sport specificity applies here. We want to encourage our bodies to get used to the variables that we impose upon it. It is generally not encouraged to radically change our weekly walking mileage, or our diets, or any other aspect of our walking program. Instead, we want to slowly introduce new variables, so that our bodies can make the appropriate adaptations.

Yet, most walkers violate this principle every day of their walking lives when they abruptly go from walking in a dress shoe to an active shoe. This is the cause of many of the walking injuries that walkers experience. To avoid injury, attempt to choose dress shoes the way you would choose your active shoes.

What type of shoe should that be? A shoe that allows our feet to function as they were intended. This means that the heel should be on the level with the forefoot. This also means that the toe box of the shoe should be shaped like a human foot, which is rounded in the front, not tapered or triangular shaped as is so popular in fashion.

An excellent fitting aid that should be employed by walkers in their dress and active footwear is to pull the insole, also known as the sock liner, out of the shoe and stand on it to determine if that shoe is appropriate in length and width. Bear in mind that most shoes are too narrow in the forefoot for the average walker, and this represents another common cause of walking injuries to the foot and lower leg.

If you take care of your feet now by wearing comfortable, well-fitting shoes all day long, you will prevent injuries in the future.

More on improper footwear design features is located at: www.nwfootankle.com.