Looking for a good pair of walking shoes

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Dwarvyn
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Joined: 12 Dec 2013
Age: 40
Gender: Female
Posts: 66
Location: Ontario, Canada

13 May 2015, 5:41 am

So last year I decided to splurge and spend $60 on a pair of walking shoes, as my new puppy was... quite a bit more energetic than I'd planned.

Well, they wore out after only one summer and now I'm in the market for a new pair, but I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm not a 'sports person', and I'm not even a shopper, so I don't really know where to start. I did some Googling to see what people think are good, but one of the problems is the ranking sites I found 1. didn't include price as a factor, and 2. were mostly from the US from what I could tell, which means that not all the products/brands are available around here (south-western Ontario, Canada), except for exorbitant shipping prices (assuming they even deliver outside the US).

I'm wondering if anyone can make any suggestions based on my criteria:

  • Women's shoes, 7.5ish, preferably with a non-pink colour option.
  • I walk minimum 30 minutes a day with the dog, and that's on bad weather days. It's frequently closer to an hour all told, and 1-2 times a week we'll go for a 2-2.5 hour walk.
  • I usually walk at a speed somewhere between a fast walk and a speed walk.
  • Something that will last more than a season.
  • These shoes will probably be worn all the time (I generally only have two pairs of shoes at a time: winter and summer... in the past I've had sandals as a third pair, but not currently), but I drive to work and then mostly am sitting around all day, so not too much wear and tear.
  • Preferably no more than $60.00 CAD (before tax), but I'd be willing to go higher if they were good enough, or are expected to last long enough.
  • No slip-ons, preferably laces.
  • Memory foam is a plus
  • Must breathe and/or wick away moisture.
  • I can get them from a store instead of being delivered, or with free delivery.

Thoughts?



auntblabby
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Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 115,217
Location: the island of defective toy santas

19 May 2015, 12:47 am

shoes that are flat [rather than with elevated heel] are better on the joints, especially the knees, I have found. this said, you are likely better off with a good pair of basic running shoes as regular walking shoes in my experience are not that good at wicking away moisture because it is presumed by the makers of walking shoes that there won't be a lot of sweating going on just from walking. so get the running shoes then invest in a decent pair of cushioning insoles to replace the relatively flat hard insoles that are in most non-premium running shoes. make sure the arch supports fit the contours of your feet which means there is no substitute for finding your shoes in a nearby actual bricks and mortar shoe store where you can try them on before you buy. DON'T count on an ill-fitting pair of shoes to "wear in" and stretch out, they don't always do that, get them properly fitted from the git-go. make sure the Achilles tendon support does is not so big as to dig into your tendon when you lift your toes up, there are a lot of athletic shoes out there built for musclepeople with strong stout achilles tendons, for regular folk that support will dig-in and HURT! watch for that. then invest in a good pair of moisture wicking [poly] socks, just as important as the shoes IMHO.