Last year I bought some chinese army shoes- very simple plimsoles in green cotton canvas with a thin rubber sole and the classic unshaped insole. They were very light and cost me 25 yuan / 2.5 GBP / 3.75 USD. They held up well and were still going strong, if looking a bit worn, after 6 months of constant wear, when I decided to upgrade to "real" shoes. I bought some light Decathlon trail-walking shoes for 250 yuan and they looked the business, showing no signs of wear after a full winter/spring's service.
Thing is, after the initial wierdness of wearing totally flat, simple shoes I got used to them and realised last week that I was starting to get a small collection of army shoes which I wore in good weather. "Enough!" I thought and put them aside. For the last week or so I've been only wearing the Decathlons in the "new" style and I'm not getting re-used to them. going to the plimsoles I had to develop more strength in my feet and my walking changed as I got used to my now slightly shorter legs. The way i placed my feet also become more exact. My feet now feel held too loosely and a camber has formed on the outside of both heels of the Decathlon pair, which is putting stress on my tendons and affecting my posture. So today I went out and got myself some new improved plimsoles (35 yuan) and as soon as I put them on, everything felt better, my back-alignment became more natural and my tread firm, despite feeling most of the bumps in the pavement.
I have been of the opinion until now that very slim, very flat, un-arched shoes were bad for your feet, but now I'm beginning to think this isn't true. Obviously if I was pounding the pavement 10K per day I'd need an actual running shoe, but for simple street-walking, I mean walking on the street, they seem to do everything my body wants them to.
Thing is, after the initial wierdness of wearing totally flat, simple shoes I got used to them and realised last week that I was starting to get a small collection of army shoes which I wore in good weather. "Enough!" I thought and put them aside. For the last week or so I've been only wearing the Decathlons in the "new" style and I'm not getting re-used to them. going to the plimsoles I had to develop more strength in my feet and my walking changed as I got used to my now slightly shorter legs. The way i placed my feet also become more exact. My feet now feel held too loosely and a camber has formed on the outside of both heels of the Decathlon pair, which is putting stress on my tendons and affecting my posture. So today I went out and got myself some new improved plimsoles (35 yuan) and as soon as I put them on, everything felt better, my back-alignment became more natural and my tread firm, despite feeling most of the bumps in the pavement.
I have been of the opinion until now that very slim, very flat, un-arched shoes were bad for your feet, but now I'm beginning to think this isn't true. Obviously if I was pounding the pavement 10K per day I'd need an actual running shoe, but for simple street-walking, I mean walking on the street, they seem to do everything my body wants them to.