Improved Fit

A little over a week ago I decided it was time to get a new pair of shoes. I had passed 300 miles on my current New Balance 1063's and knew it was just a matter of a couple of weeks before I would need to retire them. Seems like now that I'm a little on the older side, 400 miles is about all I get out of a pair of shoes. Not only were my 1063's getting on in miles, but I was starting to have a pain on the top of my left foot. It came out of nowhere on a cool down run from the track back to my house.

I say 'out of nowhere' because I had put close to 300 miles on these shoes and were convinced they were the best running shoes I had ever owned. I have high arches and a high instep, which can make getting a good fit in a running shoe hard to come by. My feet are also very sensitive to pressure on the top and generally I have to lace my shoes very loosely or I have problems with pain and numbness on the top of my foot. But the NB 1063 had none of these issues. I was actually able to lace up the shoes so that they fit my foot. And no pain. Well, not until that run home from the track.

I spent a couple of runs trying to loosen the top laces near where the pain was. To no avail. On the next run, I wondered if maybe the problem was further down my foot and I was feeling the pain radiate up the foot. So I vigorously loosened the laces down by my toes and kept them pretty loose all the way up. About a quarter of a mile in to the run, I could feel a distinct pain right near where the metatarsal and phalange bones join. So I stopped and further loosened the laces down close to my toes and the pain was gone.

Now I'm running with one shoe quite loose and the other nice and snug. It works okay, but it is time to get that next pair of shoes. I did a little research on-line and learned that New Balance had replaced the 1063 with the 1064. And all I could think, was "why now"? At the time I had about 8 weeks to my first marathon and the best pair of shoes I had ever owned had been discontinued. I checked with a couple of local running stores to see if they still had any stock on the 1063, but no luck. So what to do when faced with such a dilemma? Nothing. For an entire week. Then I decided I just needed to go try on a pair of the 1064's.

When I walked in the store (Colorado Running Company) I was greeted warmly. I said I needed shoes. Then I added, "but they replaced my 1063's with the 1064". Then a young lady who was helping another customer looked up and said, "You're gonna like them - they improved the fit". Funny, I had read that online as well - improved fit.

I guess that begs the question - how do you improve the fit of a shoe? If I tried on a shoe and it didn't fit me very well, there's not much I can do about it. That's how the shoe is made and it doesn't fit my foot very well. Conversely, if I try on a shoe and it fits great, then there is no need to improve the fit - it already fits. So if a company changes the way a shoe fits, for the people who did not buy the shoe before, it might fit them better now. For the people who previously bought the shoe, don't you think it will not fit them less well? I do.

So I tried on the New Balance 1064. Hmmm. Toes are rubbing on the side of the shoe. I checked the bottom of the shoe against my 1063, and what I immediately noticed was the 9.5 in the 1064 was almost 1/2 inch shorter than the 9.5 1063. Okay. So I asked to try on a 10. My toes didn't rub, but now the shoe felt too big. That's when I learned the 1064 was built on a different last with a narrower toe box. Improved fit for who? Not me.

Fortunately, the 758 has not yet been updated and that shoe fits my foot extremely well. I almost purchased it instead of the 1063, but went for the extra forefoot cushioning in the 1063. I guess it worked out okay for me. But I don't really understand the logic. Maybe the 1063 wasn't selling well and New Balance felt they needed to change the fit so that more people would find the shoe comfortable? I would guess that there is a statistical distribution of foot types and would be surprised if it changed dramatically over time (certainly not from year to year). So wouldn't you think a shoe manufacturer would be able to produce shoes for various foot types and know what the approximate market size is?

Like I said, I guess I don't get it. But I do have a nice new pair of New Balance 758's. And as a bonus, I noticed that they are 2 ounces lighter than the 1063. That means when Napa rolls around in a little over six weeks, I will have 4 ounces less to carry. That's a good thing. And who knows what they will replace the 758 with. I just hope they don't improve the fit.

P.S. When I got home from the store, I posted my frustration on FaceBook's Running page. I got a couple of sympathetic responses and I also got something I hadn't expected. A solution to my problem. From 2 different people. One included a link to a store that specializes in discontinued New Balance shoes. Sure enough, they had the 1063 in my size. At a really good price. Ah well, next time I'll know.