Shoes and Socks

I have a slight under-pronation, in fact slight enought hat I could almost be a neutral.
Also, my ankles have a slight tendancy to turn it.

I am a heel lander, and my left foot tend to go down with a slight outward turn which means that I toe off inside edge of my left foot rather than straight off the toe (which causes an irritating loss of power), but also meens that I tend to over compensate and hammer the right leg. It also means that when I tire I develop a bit of a rolling gate.

Anyway have been running in Asics 20/70 and have just changed to a Kayano, cos I was finding that I wanted more cushioning and a little support.

Also I was getting an odd pattern of friction/blistering: on the outside edge of the big toes just at the point where to tend to get hard skin build up, and the outer edge of my third toe on my right foot, and on the inside edge of the ball my left foot.

Is this wierd?

I do have my shoes fitted.

My foot is also narrow, especially at the heel and I have particularly long toes.

I have tried variety of socks, thorlos, 1000 miles, concurve and nike ergonomic socks, and plain old nike.

Anyone got any ideas?
Am I needing to try and different brand of shoe?

im totally confused by your description of your gait? does your foot roll inwards (overpronate) and toe off from the inside of your foot, or does it roll outwards (underpronate) and perhaps toe off from the middle/outside of your foot?
What does your right leg do when you run?

If you underpronate then get out of those Kayanos/2070s pronto, they are far too supportive for you and are probably giving you trouble

Sorry about the bum description.

The wear on my running shoes does not indicate serious pronation, but the old wet footprint test suggest a mild under-pronation.

My everyday shoes tend to wear down on the outer edge of the heel.

I'll start with the easy one. I reckon that my right foot is neutral or very close to it.
My left foot is also close neutral, but cos it goes down with the toe pointing out slightly I end up toeing off the inside edge of the ball of the foot.

Basically, my mileage is incresing, I am doing halfs and am training for a marathon, and am keen to try and stop the friction/blistering that I am getting. It is not bad on training runs except for the long ones, but is worst on/after races.

I need to be in the right shoes for the marathon.

Ah got you. Sounds like you are overpronating when you run, as you mention your ankles turn in. Most people tend to land on the outside of the heel so that wear you get is fairly common no matter what gait you have.

your left foot sounds like it needs more support from the trainer than the right, you ideally need to let the foot that overpronates have the support it needs, unless there is a massive difference. I would guess that your gait starts to deteriorate slightly as you run for longer, hence the 'rolling gait' you mention, so a bit of extra support for the right foot definitely wouldn't hurt.

Asics shoes can cause blistering problems for me on the inside of the foot, where my foot rolls into the support. I think it is because they aren't quite the right shape shoe for me.

If you can get to a shop, ask that you can try on at least 3 or 4 different brands. I would recommend for narrow feet Adidas and Puma in particular, especially the older models of Puma. Nike and New Balance may also be worth a try. As for specific models, without being able to see your feet I wouldbe nervous of recommending a type of shoe, go on the advice of the people who see your feet. Maybe though you could look at shoes that don't give quite so much overpronation support - more support is definitely not always a good thing, otherwise we would all be running in Brooks Beasts or similar motion control monster!

Its so difficult to advise on the level of pronation you should go for, unless I looked at your feet, and watched you run. If you can get to a running shop,

... (i always write too much) thats weird, I don't remember writing my post in that order, and it chopped off the ending. -but just wanted to say at the end, go on the advice of someone that can see your feet, like someone in a running shop who knows what they are talking about.

I wear new balance shoes and get blisters in exactly the same place - is it because they're to broad for my feet?? I never used to get any blisters.

might be, if you have gone for the broad fit in the shoes (2E width) (it will say on the tongue of the shoe what width you get)

Blisters can be caused by the support being in the wrong place for you (not necessarily a case of going for the wrong level of support, by the way - could be because the shoe is a bad shape for you) or just because the brand doesn't fit your foot properly.

A lot of people tend to stick to one brand because of reputation, regardless of other problems they are getting from them (asics definitely springs to mind here - great shoes if they fit your feet, will fit most people but then people like me can't wear asics). its much more fun to try loads of brands each time you buy shoes and see which feels right. once you have found a good brand, you are onto a winner!

Thanks annajo - heres to finding the right shoes!!

oh, if youve suddenly started wearing rubbish socks, or have changed the surfaces you run on dramatically, then this could also be a cause, rr2?