Shoe Size Situation
 

With the current situation of the "19" No store is open to come inside here to try on shoes. All is order and curbside pickup where I am at right now.
Right now I need some new running shoes.
However this it the situation. I have 2 pairs that need to be changed. one is a Brooks other is Adidias .
The Adidas are a size 9 and the Brooks are a size 10 mens.
Not sure what shoe size i should order since not able to try them on?
For buying a running shoe, do i want some room in them or go tight? suggestions

Personally I wouldn’t go “tight.” I have always gotten running shoes 1 to 1½ size larger than non running shoes. Running shoes the actual size of your foot causes your toes to to jam against the front of the toe box which causes things like black toe. Additionally I get wider shoes too. All helps with comfort as your foot splays out when it comes back in contact to the ground.

Dan

Most shoe companies use the same foot last to make their shoes regardless of the shoe model. So if you wear a 9 in Addidas - all Addidas size 9 should fit.

I can wear between 10.5 and 11.5, usually 11, depending on the shoe and how I plan to use it.

For winter shoes, I know I'll wear thicker socks, so I want more wiggle room. I'll go for 11 or 11.5. Especially if the shoe doesn't offer enough arch support. I'll add a ProFoot Miracle insole, my favorite, trimmed to leave toe room. Combined with thicker socks that means I'll need an 11 or larger.

For cooler weather shoes I'll be wearing thinner socks. And if I don't need an arch support, I can go smaller to 10.5.

BTW, while adidas tends to run true to size and consistent from shoe to shoe, there are exceptions. I have a pair of Adizero Prime shoes in size 11 that should have been labeled 10.5, and other owners have said the same. It's fine with thin socks and doesn't need an extra insole for arch support. And it has an open weave knit upper for summer wear, so it'll be fine.

But my other four or five pairs of adidas size 11 all run true to size and consistent.

Interesting...only because having been a runner since the mid-1970s I have never felt the need for thicker socks in winter. My feet just don’t get cold when I’m running...even if I’m running through snow in low 30s/high 20s°F temps. Just regular (relatively thin) socks and my shoes. But that’s just me. I know that every person has their own comfort levels. When it comes to wearing gloves...when the temps drop below 60°F I have to use at least a thin glove or my fingers get cold. Yet at colder temps...like in the 20s°F I’ll pass other runners who are bare-handed.

Dan

Cold adaptation is like heat adaptation. In Texas we rarely get enough consecutive cold days to develop cold adaptation. However we did this year. I'd say it took me about three days of regular exposure to cold weather to get comfortable enough to need fewer layers and thinner socks. When I was a kid in New York cold adaptation was easier because it was consistently colder, starting earlier and lasting longer. In Texas heat adaptation for summer activities is the challenge and can take longer.

While my toes get cold easily in cycling, they don't when running or walking briskly. So my usual socks are very thin, anklets about the thickness of t-shirt material. For me, thick socks are "normal" socks for most people.

Occasionally when the temperature is below freezing I'll wrap my toes in thin foil or just use the Mylar packet from a Clif bar or something similar. Depends on the shoe. With shoes like my adidas Solar Boost or EQT Gazelle, I don't really need extra warmth. But I recently got some Under Armour Hovr Sonic shoes with open weave knit upper and wanted to try them immediately when the temperature was in the 20s. So I added those Mylar packet wrappers from Clif bars around my toes for a 3 mile test run. No problems.

A couple of weeks ago Texas was hit with a rare Arctic blast and we had a couple of nights of single digit temperatures. For those walks (everything was iced over and snowed in so I walked rather than ran) of 3-5 miles I wore some very thick, fleecy thermal socks and was glad to have them. Warm enough with my EQT Gazelles and 1970s era Herman Survivor boots.

I have a bunch of removable insoles, mostly ProFoot Miracles cut to various shapes to suit my shoes and preferences. Sometimes I'll leave them full length, but that tends to crowd my toes in narrow running shoes, like some adidas and Under Armour shoes. So I have a couple of sets of ProFoot Miracle insoles trimmed back behind the toe area to leave some wiggle room in case I prefer thicker or layered socks.

Ditto, the hands thing. I have a bunch of gloves for various conditions. Sometimes I'll carry thin glove liners too in case the hardshell Thinsulate ski gloves aren't enough.