The thoroughly modern guide to buying trainers (for kids, too)

You don't just pop into a high street shoe shop to buy a pair of trainers on special offer these days. Especially if you're planning to do even the tiniest bit of serious jogging. The 21st century road to trainer wearing heaven is to find yourself a specialist sports shop and to then spend at least 45 minutes having your gait assessed, your foot analysed, your mileage accounted for and your goals considered.

After this you must then try on an eye-opening range of "running footwear" each with their own special piece of hi-tec gadgetry. This could include hexagon-shaped cushioning to better protect your joints, an improved support system for your arch, a wider/narrower front foot, plus support to deal with over-pronation or under pronation (this is what happens when you foot either rolls inwards or outwards when it strikes the ground). It's even possible to buy "customised" trainers that can be created to almost perfectly fit your own foot shape, running gait and desired level of cushioning.

And if you think this is all a bit OTT even as a grown-up wannabe jogger, then imagine your incredulity as a parent of a child who needs a pair of new trainers when they are treated to almost the same level of attention.

While the ubiquitous slip-on black gym pumps will "do" for school, they most certainly won't cut it at the local running club. Nor will any kind of lighting up trainers. Which is how I found myself at my own favourite specialist sports shop, Achilles Heel, inquiring about trainers for Little Miss Outdoors, who is a member of the excellent Garscube Harriers (a club that is somehow bucking the "kids-are-horribly-lazy" trend and boasts a waiting list for junior members).

And if I'd expected there to be a choice of a couple of pairs of mediocre-looking, scaled-down adult trainers for kids I couldn't have been more wrong. In the 21st century just about every sports shoe manufacturer offers a range of trainers to suit different activities and different foot shapes and running gaits.


Even Little Miss Outdoors, with her long, thin feet and very narrow heels (just like her mum) had the choice of no less than six different pair of very-smart-looking-indeed trainers.

The Specialist - and very attentive – Footwear Fitting Assistant at Achilles Heel also dedicated an unbelievable amount of time to ensure that Little Miss Outdoors chose exactly the right shoe to suit her running style and ability.

* First the Very Attentive Assistant looked at how LMO walked barefoot and then ran barefoot. This is to assess one's gait and to see how the foot strikes the ground.

* Then she carefully measured the length and width of her foot, and added on a small thumb's width of space to the length. This extra space allows for the forward force and movement of the foot each time it strikes the ground.

* Then she asked about LMO's running. Off-road, on-road, track, cross country, for fun, for competition, mileage?.
There are off-road trainers, cross-country shoes, cheaper trainers with less cushioning, more expensive trainers for more mileage with extra cushioning and support. As well as trainers for the gym, aerobics, indoor football, netball etc.

* Then the VAA went off to the stock room to select a range of trainers that might perfectly suit Little Miss Outdoors, her feet and her type of running.

And, boy, did my daughter love the attention. Carefully assessing every pair of trainers LMO paced and jogged up and down the shop, even trying out a different brand on each foot "just to see the differences," suggested the VAA. The VAA also had LMO trying trainers with an additional cushioned insert in a bid to find the absolutely perfect fit. And added a nice pair of supportive elastic laces.

But why all the fuss, I asked? Well, it seems that just like adults who can incur injuries and strains to muscles, ligaments and tendons in the legs, hips, backs etc because of the combination of the repetitive action of running and ill-fitting trainers so, too, can children. It is unlikely that potential injuries will be as severe in youngsters because they should never be running as many miles as the grown-ups but the damage/pain could still occur.

And so it came down to just two pairs of trainers that LMO was "almost definitely sure about". A pink pair and a blue pair. While both looked amazingly pretty (if trainers can ever be described in such a way) there came a final lesson from the VAA. "Be sure about the fit, not about the colour," cautioned the VAA.

Hmm. Well, I knew that was going to be a tough call for LMO who has always had a very strong connection to all things girly, fluffy and, above-all, pink. Quite incredibly, however, it appears that she'd been taking the whole trainer buying experience rather seriously. For in the end (this bit did take several tedious minutes) she pointed at the blue pair. The Mizuno trainers are a mixture of bright white, navy blue and baby blue and the laces are white-and-sprakly-blue striped but they were definitely not pink. Or fluffy looking. Or flashy and lighting up.

The price also took me by surprise. While proper running trainers for adults can cost between £75 and £120, the Mizunos for kids were just £35. I felt I'd not only got my money's worth thanks to the time and advice from the VAA but also because for once in her life LMO had been able to choose a pair of trainers from a wide range and come away with a pair she felt looked "really nice and trendy". She says she can't wait to go to the running club on Tuesday. "How marvellous and healthy!" I thought.

You want to come on a trip to buy school shoes to find out how different the whole experience normally is. Let's just say that long, thin feet with narrow heels never, ever fit into pretty, attractive or vaguely trendy shoes. They only ever fit into the one pair of horribly sensible looking, lace-up shoes that most shoe shops stock only for those crestfallen-looking children with very, very narrow feet. But that's another story.

It's all in the detail

Sometimes I come across new fitness/outdoors kit that includes a detail that is so fab I want to tell everyone about it. This time it's a couple of new Nike products that I recently bought.

The first is a Nike Dri-FIT Running beanie (and also the Nike Thermal Running Skull) that features a small but highly useful hole in the back. For us girls with ponytails this fab detail offers a truly genius solution to the usual bunched-up-at-the-back-of-the-head-hair nightmare that all too often occurs with a ponytail and a woolly hat.

You don't have to have a pony tail to wear this hat as guys or women with short hair won't even notice the hole, but for women with long hair it is nothing short of fabulous. (Actually, come to think of it, guys or women with short hair might find the hole useful for feeding through earphone wires.)

Since buying the hat numerous long-locked pals have commented on the brilliance of this hat. I plan to wear the thinner Dri-FIT beanie under my cycle helmet, too, and as an additional layer when out walking in the hills.

Nike also have a pair of running gloves called Nike Lightweight Running Gloves with a tiny wee pocket on the inside of the palm just perfect for slipping a key into. If you're a runner then you'll know the problem well: you're heading out for a run from the car or the house but you're only wearing a basic pair of leggings or shorts and a top. So where on earth can you stow the key?

These Nike gloves offer the ideal solution. Pop the key in the palm pocket and then hold your hands in the natural curled position for running and you'll find the key stays perfectly in place.

These two features might only be small additions to a couple of pieces of ordinary running kit but they make a huge difference to comfort and practicalities.

The fab running specialist store Achilles Heel, Great Western Road, Glasgow, sells these Nike products.

Review: Shiny new Newton trainers

Newton's "Motion" trainers review by David Wilson, who is a keen triathlete and president of Glasgow Triathlon Club

Traditionally the ability to “buy speed” has been limited to the bike leg of a triathlon with the addition of an aero whatsit here or a tri bar thingy-ma-bob there. But in recent years, the go-faster trend has expanded to include swimming (eg the Speedo LZR race suit and, more specifically for triathlon, swimskins from companies such Blue Seventy) and now running, thanks to the much anticipated and hyped Newton trainers.

Without getting too technical, as I am in no way qualified to do so, the key concept behind the Newton trainer is to get you to run more naturally on your mid to forefoot, something that we nearly all do barefoot but not so many of us do when we have a pair of trainers on our feet. When running on our forefoot our foot lands more under our centre of gravity allowing momentum to be maintained more easily while with a heel strike we hit the ground out in front of our centre of gravity effectively “braking” our momentum with every stride. Take a look at all top runners and you will see they all run on their forefoot with a high leg cadence.

Just recently I was in the market for a new pair of running shoes. I’d had a keen eye on the Newtons mainly because I’ve also spent the last year working to improve my running technique. For us lesser mortals running on the forefoot is initially hard work as amongst other things it involves good tall posture, a solid core and developing a decent set of calves. Mentally, it’s also easy to slouch back into old habits.

I got myself videoed at specialist running shop Achilles Heel, Glasgow, before buying, something that proved to be very useful because I saw that I pronate slightly (most of us do) and so I benefited from the stability version of the Newton, the “Motion”. This was despite having neutral trainers before and having no injury issues.

When taking them out of the box the first thing you notice, apart from the striking colour scheme, is that these trainers are light, similar to what most of us would consider to be the weight of a racing trainer and the racing version of the Newton is lighter still. Once fitted you are immediately aware of the four “lugs” that act like mini shock absorbers under the forefoot. These lugs also reduce the contact area with the road so in theory there should be less resistance to slow you down. I find the trainer quite unstable for anything other than running in a straight line so they are not really suitable for doubling up for, say, a circuits class.

But it’s out on the road where the Newtons really strut their stuff with their lightness added to a real a ping off the tarmac provided by the unique forefoot cushioning. These shoes feel better the faster you run in them and on the few runs I've done I’ve found that my heart rate is lower for a given pace so presumably I am running more efficiently, too. The lugs under the forefoot also act a little like a “sweet spot” does in golf giving you feedback so you are always aware of where your foot is striking the road. This constantly reinforces better technique.

Admittedly there may be an element of “The Emporer’s New Shoes” going on here as it’s not difficult to believe somehow in the “magical” properties of the trainers, which of course could be giving me a mental boost. However, even after weighing this up I do still feel that I’m running appreciably faster than when wearing “standard” running shoes, just so long as I’m trying to run in the correct manner. Which leads me on to my only niggle with the Newtons.

These shoes will benefit the faster and technically better runner far more than a heel strike plodder, so much so that people may end up dong themselves an injury if they buy a pair of these and assume that the shoes will sort their running technique. In my opinion, due care should be taken before buying a pair of Newtons. Indeed the Newton website does recommends that you taper the transition to these trainers with short runs and build into them slowly by alternating with you existing trainers. I’d add that people should be honest with themselves about their running style before even considering these shoes and I would also recommend that they get themselves some proper advice from a specialist running shop such as Achilles Heel before making any purchase.

That said, if you already run on your mid/fore foot – and you have £120 to spare – these trainers could easily prove to be a secret weapon in your bid to break a race PB this year. That’s what I’m hoping anyway.