The Wet Test

This morning I finally did the "Wet Test." It's something I've seen mentioned in Runner's World for years now. I've had a subscription to Runner's World for a very long time and these days I always let out a little sigh when I pull it out of my mailbox. Oh... I wish I was still a runner! I try to convince myself I am a runner "on hold" for the time being. Still, I have continued the subscription. I let my subscription to Triathlete Magazine run out about 6 months ago. Hopefully someday I will be able to start it up again, but right now it's too hard to look at it each month and then see the annual Road to Ironman issue. Hey, if I'm 80 when I do my first Ironman, well, so be it. I've realized there is no deadline on a race, so I haven't given up hope.

Back to the Wet Test. I'm sure I've mentioned this in a past blog, but every six months, or maybe a little more often, Runner's World publishes a running shoe recommendation article. Sometimes it's simply a new shoe guide, other times it's trail running shoes or track shoes. The latest version in the December issue is the "Winter Shoe Guide." Within each of these articles, they always include instructions for a Wet Test, a way you can determine what type of foot you have; Low, Flexible Arches, Normal-Arched, or High, Rigid Arches. Depending on your foot type, different levels of low to high stability shoes are recommended. I have known for quite some time that I have high arches, although I had not actually done the Wet Test until today. Here are my results:



If I ever had any doubt about having high arches, wow, it became even more clear here! This is where I get confused though. Early on in my running experience, running shops, podiatrists, and physical therapists all put me in higher and higher stability shoes based on my minor aches and pains at the time. The Runner's World Wet Test states: "High, Rigid Arches need more impact protection. These Runners do best in neutral-cushioned shoes." I wonder... have I ever been put in the correct shoes for my body?

I mentioned the Runner's World shoe recommendation for my high arches to my last physical therapist back in January of this year and she said, "OK, try more cushioned shoes." Huh? This was after years before the she put me in the high end of stability (not motion control) shoes after I did one of those tests where they video tape you running on a treadmill to check the pronation of your feet. Usually people with high arches supinate, meaning the opposite of pronate (where your feet turn in towards each other when you walk or run). I am a high-arched pronator, which seems to be an unlikely combination. All of this makes me think that no one really knows what shoes are best for me. Yet again, I'm on my own and need to figure it out for myself. Maybe I need something to keep my feet from pronating (such as an arch support shoe insert), COMBINED with a shoe with extra cushion. Hmm... maybe I'm on to something here! Based on this, I'm considering that my next new pair of running shoes are going to be neutral-cushioned. It's another one of those "worth a try" situations.