Dumb Q re new shoes....

Hi Lisa,

Every forum here other than Cup of Joe is really for beginners.  There is no question too small or that hasn't likely been asked.  If you have questions someone here has answers.  

Should your running shoes hurt?  I'd say no.  I run very little since I have knee problems and I bought a new pair of running shoes on Thursday night walked around my office in them on Friday and ran 6.2mi in them on Saturday with no issues.  The basic rule for products is if they hurt they are wrong.  (some things require breakins but not many).  If you said I got a blister I'd say give it a shot but for the shoes to hurt enough to make you completely quit I'd try to take them back.  You state you "hadn't had this pain with your old shoes and that's what I'd tell the store".   

Good luck and welcome to the community,

 Chris

What kind of pain are we talking about?  Is it a rubbing, blister-making kind of pain?  If so, that should be expected when breaking in some new shoes.  Or is it more of a pain from contact with the ground?  If so, that's something else entirely.

Also, take into account that you had gone about 10% farther than your usual distance, which will take some time for your body to adapt.  Jumping from "2.2/3.2 mi" to 6 is a huge jump if you don't have a lot of base built up.

I would say give it some more time and see what happens.

Over the summer I've been gradually increasing my distance from 3mi to 5mi (where I'm at now).  It's been about 6 weeks.  Between weight and knee problems from before (sprained last winter), I am very slow with increasing my distance b/c I don't want to hurt anything again.  If I were you, I'd definitely look at one of the beginner programs on here or look at jeff galloway's website (he does all run/walk programs) so you slowly increase at a rate that will be productive not prohibitive.  Going from 3 to 6 miles is a huge jump, especially with only a 9 week base.  Okay, the second thing, the pain.  The bottom of my feet hurt a lot after my first 5 miler on Friday.  I also get blisters on my arches a LOT.  If it's blisters, check out some body glide, that stuff helps.   Also if it's a reputable running store, you shoudl be able to take them back.  Talk to them.  Shoes that feel great for 10 minutes at the store sometimes don't work.  It's about when you fit them (first thing in the AM or after a day of work w/ swollen feet) and for each person's foot there are usually a few options.  See if you can try a different one.

And trust there are real beginners here!  When I joined the site I didn't even know how to SWIM, LOL.   

Kimmi makes great points - running shoe shouldn't hurt (at least mine never have), but a significant increase in mileage could have caused the problems.  Great thing you got fitted for the shoes, because most local running stores are very reputable when it comes to customer service.

And I've been a member of this site since 2004, and I'm very much still a beginner.  There are very good reasons why this site doesn't have a "for real beginners" forum, primarily because a true benefit of the site is the advice of more seasoned peers (and because we don't want class segregation to creep in), and I've never seen anyone blasted for what they may have thought was a dumb, or simple question.