Let's face it, the primary tool used by runners are running shoes. Although we often think about heart rate monitors, GPS watches and all sort of fancy fabrics for our running clothes, nothing will affect your performance as much as the very best, properly chosen running shoes.

Given I am a sports medicine podiatrist with a practice catering solely to helping runners run, and I like to run, you can rest assured I always run in the very best running shoes.

And not surprisingly, other doctors, and lots of runners ask me which running shoes are the best. That's not an easy answer. Of course the short answer is that the best running shoes are the ones that work best for you. But you have lots of variables. Your foot type is probably different than mine. Chances are good that you're a faster runner than me. You also probably have a different training regimen and set of goals for this year. Your running shoes are supposed to help you run further, decrease your risk of injury and protect you while you train.

The very best running shoes are always an accurate reflection of the runner’s particular biomechanics, running form, training regimen and particular goals. So in this episode we're going to talk about some of the ways you might want to reconsider your running shoe choices.