Just under a year ago, I purchased my first ever pair of running shoes that were reduced from £65 down to a very modest £20. The Saucony Pro Grid Ignition 2 Running Trainers have now notched up over 400 miles of running and many miles of walking over the Olympic Park in the summer of 2012 so maybe the time has come for them to be relegated for walks or very wet days

In a weird sort of way, I have become quite attached to these trainers, but after displaying a few signs of wear and tear and I have picked up a few little twinges so maybe it is time to look for my next pair of shoes that will be hitting the streets for my next 500 miles.

Maybe its time to visit a local running shop for some gait analysis to see exactly what kind of running shoes I need, but I have a cynical side that thinks running on a treadmill in a shop, which is completely different to running in the street is not really analysis at all but it’s actually an opportunity for a sales pitch for an overpriced running shoe that you will be tempted to Google when you get home only to find it was £30 cheaper on-line or along.

When the salesperson has been so helpful and spent so much time advising you, you actually feel pressured to making the purchase as an unwritten thank you for their advice.

Ultimately though, the golden rules of running are to do what is right for you and listen to your body, add a sprinkling of common sense and you have more information than a machine could ever provide you but then again I learned my lessons from watching Rocky IV.

So if running in a shop doesn’t appeal to you, then the “Wet Foot” test is a good way of giving you a rough idea of what kind of feet you have.

There’s no single ‘best shoe’ – everyone has different needs. All sorts of things – your biomechanics, your weight, the surfaces you run on, and obviously, the shape of your feet – mean that one person’s ideal shoe can be terrible for another person.

The Wet Test works on the basis that the shape of your wet footprint on a dry floor or piece of paper roughly correlates with the amount of stability you might need in your shoe. It will show you what features you should look for and equip you with the basic knowledge you need when looking for a running shoe.

Although, I had convinced myself I was flat footed, the test showed that I have “Neutral Pronation”  and that my feet are quite normal, so this should make my choice a little easier, so I will let you know over the next few weeks how I get on.