Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Where is your store located?
A. Our West Springfield store is located at 231 Elm St. right next door to Pintu's Indian Resturaunt, a couple doors down from Cerrato's Bakery, and about two blocks up the street from the Majestic Theater. There is on street parking available. Our Westfield store is located at 26 Elm St. right downtown next to Sovereign Bank. Parking can be found on street or behind the store in one of the city lots.
Q. What is the best shoe for me?
A. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as the one perfect shoe. That being said, there are certain shoes that we would recommend over others. The most important part of the fitting process is determining the amount of stability a person needs. Higher, more rigid arches tend to like Neutral shoes, a shoe with little stability in it. For a foot with a lower arch that has some slight over pronation, we would recommend a Stability shoe. These shoes come equipped with a medial post, to help correct the pronation level. Finally, for those with severely flat feet, we'd recommend a motion control shoe. These extremely stiff shoes have heavy duty stability to help correct the worse of pronation problems.
Q. Okay, so what is pronation and why is it so evil?
A. Pronation is an inward roll of the foot through the striking faze
of running. The neutral heal-toe strike is to land on the outside of
the heal (this is wear you'll see a majority of the wear on the
shoe's sole), roll forward to the fore foot, and then roll to the
inside of the foot (pronate), pushing of from the big toe. Pronation
is a good thing. It helps absorb impact as you land. The issue come
when a runners arch collapses during the roll through. This causes
an over pronation and will put unnecessary strain on your arch,
ankle, knee, and hip.
Q. One of my toe nails turns black and eventually falls of every time I do a longer run. What can I do to prevent this from happening?
A. This is one of the most common problems we see runners have. It can be caused by several different things, but the main reason we see is runners wearing their shoe's too small. When choosing shoes for running, make sure to allow a thumb's width worth of space for your toes. This allows enough space so that your toe will not hit the front of the shoe and bruise the toe nail, causing it to fall off. The other possible culprit of black toe nails could be that while running, you may be curling your toes under. This will cause the toe to rub on the bottom of the shoe and bruising it. The best way to prevent this is by mentally making a note that it's happening and trying to correct it.
Q. How long will my shoes last?
A. Running shoes will last anywhere from 300-500 miles. Where in that range they will fall depend on several different factors. Running on softer surfaces, such as grass or trails, will help increase the life of the shoe as compared to running on asphalt and pavement. Similarly, how hard you are on your feet will also determine their life. The category of the shoe also will play a part in it's durability. I lightweight racing flat will not last nearly as long as a beefy motion control shoe. The shoes do have a shelf life as well. The EVA will start to harden up after about two years and lose it's shock absorbing properties.