I’ll give you my experience.
I started running about 6 years ago at the age of 31. Prior to that, I was somewhat athletic (liked weights, playing hoops, volleyball) but always hated running because it hurt my feet. I played HS football as a defensive back and taped my ankles and wore high top cleats to try and ease the pain in my ankles.
So, 6 years ago, I decided I was going to run a half marathon. Followed a Hal Higdon plan. Bought shoes at the recommenation of a running store (Kayano’s) based on their assessment of my feet.
Every run hurt like hell. Ankles hurt mostly including achilles.
I made an appointment to see a podiatrist. He said I had a Haglund’s Deformity and achille’s tendonitis. Recommended physical therapy. Mentioned that I might want to also consider orhtotics or maybe stop running anything more than 5 or 6 miles. Did PT a few times a week (massage, strenght, stretch, ice and stim). Feet still hurt, but managed. Couldn’t walk well for several days after the half marathon.
Decided I wanted to give 26.2 a shot. Did a TNT plan for 20 weeks. Feet hurt like hell again. Went back to the podiatrist and decided to take his initial recommendation for orthotics. Also did another round of physical therapy. Marathon sucked, but that is another story.
Fast forward over the past 3.5 years and I have still been using the orthotics. 5 half marathons, a bunch of trail races, triathlons of every distance (inc 2 ironmans). I no longer have any foot issues. Now, granted, I am thinner, train smarter and probably run with a shorter stride than I did 6 years ago.
I have often thought about running without the orthotics, but why? What is it going to get me? I am running “almost” fast (for a guy with no running background - 1:34 half mary, 20:00 5k, 42 min 10k), so I wonder how much faster I will get with something a little lighter on my feet. Does that outweigh the risk that I might get hurt.
Also, I figure I will worry about 5 ounces on my feet when I start to look like a “runner”. I’m 5’10" and about 170 when in prime shape. If I get down to 150 (never gonna happen) then I will look for the extra precious seconds that might be found in lighter shoes.