differences in running shoe sizing and flat shoe sizing

The past couple weeks I've been troubleshooting sizing in distance running shoes, and something surprising I've found is the aggressive toe rocker and stiff heel counters found on a lot of running shoes make sizing pretty tricky. Doing a size I'd normally do in a flat shoe is too small in these types of shoes, because of the way that the toe rocker puts pressure on the stiff heel in the back when I am moving forward in them.

Something to take note of when picking out a pair of distance running shoes-- if the shoe seems to have an aggressive rocker in the front, it seems to dictate how much pressure gets put on the heels in the back when you are striding forwards while running on your forefoot. If the back has a very stiff heel counter, heel go ouchy, lol. 

It seems like in aggressively rockered running shoes with a very stiff heel counter, I'm a 9.5 for the best balance of tightness and comfort so that the tips of my toes don't get crushed/my heels don't blister when I stride on my forefoot. 

I'm a US Men's 8.5 for the Nike Flex Experience Run 12s that I use for dance games. They feature a very flexible heel counter in the back that isn't stiff at all. The upper is really flexible also like a sock. 

I'm a 9 in the Onitsuka Tiger Serrano's I own. The toebox space is really generous on this specific shoe, and it's completely flat and a bit flexible in the upper, while the heel and midfoot area fit snugly which I enjoy. 

In all of my cross country shoes, I'm like a 10. I think this is because these are aggressively sized down relative to their advertised size. 

It seems like I can be any size within like 1 and a half US men's sizes in this range depending on the materials/construction of a shoe, but the best fitting size for snugness and comfort seems to depend on the type of shoe. 🤷‍♂️

Popular posts from this blog

AED's StepManiaX Stage Sensitivity Tuning Guide

Image
INTRODUCTION  Hi there! My name is Aedan. I have been playing dance games since September 2021. After a lot of trial and error over the past four years on my own StepManiaX hardware, I'm very satisfied with how I adjust sensitivity on my own panels. There are a lot of StepManiaX arcade machines in public now, and the pads are pretty great for an enjoyable gameplay experience out of the box without any special setup necessary.   Sometimes, a machine might come with irregularly under-sensitive panels from the factory-- like holds dropping with a player's entire weight on the panel levels of under-sensitivity. This short guide is to show you how to adjust the sensitivity of your panels so that you do not have any problems with actuating the panels, but without compromising the release of said panels. It's important to not make them too over-sensitive, otherwise consistency in techniques such as jacking, footswitching, and even simple things like drills can get compromised. S...
Read more

Nike Mercurial Vapor Academy Indoor Court

Image
THESE SHOES ARE CRACKED. This is my new main shoe!! https://www.nike.com/t/mercurial-vapor-16-academy-indoor-court-low-top-soccer-shoes-Tjvo3RuC/FQ8434-001  Crazy story: I bought these like 3 years ago (the 15's), thought they were too tight and returned them after 2 days because I didn't understand I needed to give them like a week's worth of sessions to break in the fit.  Since then I've grown to like shoes that are really tight on my feet, for the reason that they make lifting my feet feel much more instantaneous for fine heel and toe muscle control.  I am frustrated with a lot of the options out on the market for minimalist footwear, because I don't have wide feet. I have regular standard width feet. The toeboxes on a lot of minimalist shoes are wide, so there's all this loose space in the front of the shoe that makes me feel like I'm dragging around dead weight/the shoes feel like clown shoes in the toe area even if I size down.  I dig the vibra...
Read more

AED's StepManiaX Shoe Reviews

Image
I have bought a lot of shoes to figure out what the "optimal" shoe is for StepManiaX for the way that I play. Shoes may vary on other dance pads due to metal center/brackets/corners, people putting down baby powder, etc. When discussing each pair of shoes I have bought, there are 5 factors that I weigh. I weigh them 1 to 5 (strongly dislike to strongly like). Weight - 1 is heavy, 5 is light Grip - 1 is slippery, 5 is gorilla grip Bounce - 1 is destroy your knees, 5 is moon shoes Sound - 1 is not satisfying, 5 is crisp and satisfying Fit - 1 is loose/uncomfy, 5 is tight/comfy Add all scores up for an overall rating out of 25. Crocs LiteRide Pacer Info 4/5    Weight (low 200g) 1/5    Grip 3/5    Bounce 3/5    Sound 5/5    Fit 15/25  Overall Critique Weight is below standard. Grip is absolutely atrocious. Any amount of dust/debris buildup and you are sliding like crazy. Bounce & shock absorbency is servicea...
Read more