I used to be a Nike junkie. That meant I would insist on getting a pair of Nike for my sports activities. I used to be more style conscious too. That meant I would choose a pair of shoes that I looked good in or that are in some funky colours.

I would not say that this has changed, but I now take a different approach when getting a pair of shoes to run in. That was since I first learned, through the hard way, about the importance of shoes in injury prevention for a runner.

Now, be it runners or walkers, we all pronate when we run or walk. Pronation is the term used to describe the motion of the foot as it “rolls” inwards towards the arch each time we take a step. This “rolling” can be too excessive or too limited in different people. In either case, it is not good for the runner as the motion places unnecessary stress on the runner’s feet. A pair of shoes that is right for the runner should correct this motion and reduce the stress on the feet that result.

I am what they call an over-pronator. That means that after my foot hits the ground, it “rolls” too much inwards towards the arch. For that, I need a pair of shoes that has denser material in the mid-sole just below the arches to help control this excessive “rolling” inwards of my feet.

An injury to my knee had me starting to become more serious about choosing the right shoe. My physiotherapist at the hospital gave me a sheet of paper that had a list of shoes from different manufacturers, with their models grouped according to the foot types they are suited for. It turned out that I have been wearing a pair of shoes that were more suitable for runners whose feet “roll” less than the normal range of motion, or what they call under-pronators.

Determined to do what I could so that I would less easily succumb myself to those dreaded injuries, I went shopping for a pair of new shoes with the piece of paper in my hand. The Nike junkie in me brought me to a Nike store. I looked at every single running shoe model in the store, trying to match it with an entry in the list marked “Over-pronators” in the sheet of paper I was holding. My eyes moved from a shoe on display to the piece of paper in my hand, to the next shoe on display and back to the piece of paper in my hand again, until… Aha!

“Air Structure Triax 9.” That happened to be the only model that matched my list and it turned out to be what I bought.

After I came to Atlanta, I went to a running store to get my shoes. This store is run by people who know running and who know how to help a customer choose a pair of shoes. They carry out their own fitting process in the store, which include getting the customer run on a threadmill while they videoed the customer’s feet as he runs. The video is then replayed in slow motion so that they can assess how much or how little the customer pronates. This is part of a process they call gait analysis.

I still remember my first visit to this running store. Having done my gait analysis, the lady attending to me brought out three different shoe models for over-pronators so that I could try them on. I like my shoes to have ample room in front of my toes. I once took part in a 10k walking event, wearing a pair of shoes that were just long enough for my feet. I ended up with black toenails, after the front of my shoes pressed against them as I walked the full 10k. In this respect, all the three pairs met the criteria.

Of the three pairs, one of them fitted very snugly on my feet. A little too snugly, I would say, as this model has a narrow toebox. My toes were held tightly together in the shoes and the worry I had for this was that I may end up with blisters over long distances. There was another pair, which I thought had rather high arches. I have a neutral arch and I was not sure if the high arches would end me up with cramps over long distances.

At the time of buying a pair of shoes, it can be difficult to decide if a pair of shoes will be suitable for somebody. If aches and pains may arise after running in the pair of shoes, they usually do not show until a long run is done on the shoes. Trying out the shoes in the running store does not expose that sort of problems. I took a conservative worst-case scenario approach and downgraded those two pairs.

That left me with the last pair that was presented to me, and I happened to feel rather comfortable in them. In fact, it was as if how my feet felt in this pair of shoes was something I was already familiar with. This was the pair of shoes that I walked out of the store with. Guess what, it turned out to be a pair of Nike. Nike Air Structure Triax +10.

No, the Nike junkie in me did not make this decision.