Today after work, I went to The Starting Block, a local triathlete apparel store and had my friend Tom Hall do what they call a Gait Analysis on me. Or, if you’re really fancy, you can call it a Biomechanical video gait analysis.

What the heck is a Gait Analysis you ask?

For a runner, selecting the proper running shoes is one of the most important aspects of running. The correct running shoe can help prevent injuries, knee pain, hip pain, and even blisters. You should never select a running shoe based on color or style, so a gait analysis is way to mechanically choose which running shoes are best for your feet.

Here is how it works. You take your shoes off and they look at your feet, check your arch, and quiz you about your feet. Then, they put you on a treadmill and you walk for a while and then jog for a while. They record your feet while you are on the treadmill so you can go back and look at how you run in slow motion. It is pretty cool because it gives you a chance to see how your feet behave when you are running. Then, based on what they see, they will recommend some shoes that you can then try on and see which ones actually feel and work well on your feet.

I have been running for a few years and pretty much knew everything that the analysis indicated. However, I learned all this stuff the hard way, through trial and error and asking a lot of questions to whoever would listen. This handy tool would have been such a nice thing to have when I was buying my first pair of “real” running shoes.

And, even now, it did give me some new and probably better ideas as to which shoes I should be picking.

Thanks Tom!