One more question.. about sneakers. (Read 1223 times)

Don't look a blessing in disguise...if you have gone 200 miles in a pair of shoes and you don't have any problems...you probably have the right shoes...yer husband is on track I think... Leg issues would show up quick... mta: I saw your post about your leg and hip problems...I would lean towards the camber on the road causing the problem just like jake referred to in his post. Can you go to a track and run to see if that is the problem? Have you tried running the same course but on the other side of the road?? Make sure you tell the orthotic guy about the roads...

Certainly your issues would have showed up after 200 miles. If you've got that much mileage and have had no problems, you're in the right shoe.

I just posted about this in another thread, but after I had been running for a few months, I was diagnosed as being an overpronator at a specialty running store. I bought the stability shoes they recommended. Every run got progressly more painful (I was feeling it in my shins) until it was absolutely excruciating. Even short runs took 2 days or so of limpy recovery. I tossed them and bought a cheap pair of neutral shoes and am back to normal. It is still very possible that I am an overpronator, but I know that neutral shoes feel best to me.

I am curious if there is really something to this! I am going through another bout of the splints, and in the right ( dominant) leg it is much worse than the left. More of a muscle tightness though. I have a pair of brooks Adrenaline gts7 that have 200 miles on them, and had bad splints in the beginning, chocked it up to being newbie, with C25K and now I have completed one hour runner, longest run to date is just shy of 6 miles. Rotating a new pair of shoes ( same kind) in, and now have developed horrible shin pain, and some new pains to boot.( inner side of the heel) I certainly don't think that one long run of 6 mles could cause so much shin pain?? Is it possible that you can require a different shoe at this stage of the game with running? I too and finding easy runs of 2-3 miles fine during the run, but tight limpy recovery for 2+ days afterward.... Any opinions/advice? Cheffy

This IS getting to be a serious question. I just bought Asics 2120s, put some brand new, from the Chiropractor, custom made orthotics and went for a two mile run on sunday and can still barely walk due to arch issues...I am sure it is the orthotics. I had shin issues with the new shoes and my old custom orthotics..and posted the question about motion control orthotics in motion control shoes...last night I bought some higher end general inserts to put in the shoes to see how THEY do based on input from the guy at the shoe store. Now I need to finish the experiement and see "how they run". mta: Cheffy...it does indicate that you broke your shoes in last time and are doing the same thing now...so, if you work through it, you may get back to the place where it doesn't hurt anymore...or possible shift to a different shoe.

I am making the bold and courageous move to purchase a neutral shoe, to see if the pain goes away as mysteriously as it appeared. I can't figure out why I am having such trouble all of the sudden. As I said, I hardly think that a mileage ramp up that slight would lead to such shin problems... Just wonder if I need a shoe with a little more give My arches don't bother me per say, but the inner part of my calf is killing me, and it radiates all the way around the front muscles. I don't want to live on Motrin the rest of my life to run, if I can figure out a way to run more comfortably.... UGH, the perrils of being a newbie!! lol... Please feel free to share any advice out there that may help me figure this crap out..... Best to all~ Cheffy

It is still very possible that I am an overpronator, but I know that neutral shoes feel best to me.

I've been told that I am a moderate pronator, but if I wear more than the very slightest degree of stability shoe I am pretty uncomfortable. I used to wear a moderate stability shoe, but over time I've not been able to tolerate them. I have a pair of neutrals that I can wear for short runs and my favorite shoe is a very mild stability shoe. I have a feeling that eventually I will be able to wear neutral for increasingly long runs.

I wasn't going to check this thread--we wear "Running Shoes" not "Sneaker"! Little did I know I was actually wanted here...! Flattered, yet, you have NO idea what you're getting youself into... First off, to the original question... Have you guys seen that old movie (God, makes ME feel old...) "Terms of Endearment"? In the beginning, when Shirly McLane (spelling?) was checking out her sleeping baby. She goes, "Oh, my God! She's not breathing!!" She shook the baby until she woke up and started to scream. She goes, "Oh, good. She's breathing..." So you got a new pair of shoes and they are working out fine. Don't go out to find out if they might hurt you! If the shoe is a problem, you can see the early signs fairly quickly. Don't go out trying to knock around your legs in those shoes, testing the water. I see a real need for some column or something with "real" knowledge folks with shoes. I don't qutie buy into those so-called "shoe guys" who work for a running store--what do they do? They sell shoes! Do you think they'll push $40 JCPenny shoes instead of $150 Nike shoes? Well, they might; but... And here's a question for general audience; when you go to the store and hop on a treadmill and run a bit. What do those "expert" tell you? "It looks like you pronate a bit..." Anything else? Do they talk about things like "Well, you seem to twist your right foot a bit outward so as you land on your heel, you tend to get more torque and your arch seems to collaps a bit..." I guess what I'm trying to say is; this "pronation" has become some fancy term and when the guy in a T-shirt that reads "Shoe Guy" tells you that you "over-pronate", you'd think, wow...! And they'll bring out this thick rigid shoes that is labled as "stability shoes" and say, "Here's one for you for $120..." Does any of them actually check the shape of your feet and then it that into the shape of the shoe (curved or straight or wide or narrow or whatever)? I mean, if you have wide foot and try to shove that into a narrow shoe, regardless of how "stable" they may be, something is goingn to stick out somewhere. And in most cases, becaue of the rigid heel counter, your big toe is going to be pushed medially; or because of all the reinforcement in the forefoot area, your heel is going to be pushed medially. So you still "pronate". So what would shoe manufacturer do? They'll put more rigid material around the heel to make them more like a ski boot! Next thing you know, because the shoe wouldn't flex any more, you'll get undue strain in your arch and develop plantar fasciitis. I've said this many many times; pronation is a natural motion. Some may do more than others and could cause some problem but, because our legs are sticking out about 5~8 inches outside the center line and we throw our feet more or less toward the center line and land, in general, more toward the outside the heel; there WILL be some torque, rolling your ankle joint medially. And this is why we have arch on the medial side of our foot. Arch acts as a spring to take off that pressure. If our arch don't work, our arch collapses and you pronate even more. So what do you need to do? To protest and pamper it so it'll get weaker and weaker? Or you probably do some exercises to strengthen your arch so it would act as it should to stop your foot from rolling too far medially? Most of all those so-called high tech shoes, as well as most rigid orthotics, restrict those proper functions of our feet and consequently our feet can't function as they should. Now so you may or may not pronate a bit more than others or more than you should... It'll eventually cause aches and pains somewhere else. It could be in your shin. But unless you actually remove the cause of your problem, it's not going to go away. Doing anything otherwise is nothing but a tampering. Now I'm not going to say the shoe is a problem or weak arch or whatever. Many different things come in to play--your form, muscle tone, shoe, bone structure, muscle structure... One other thing, Cheff guy, if you have a shoe with overly built-up heel, you'll have a longer lever from the point at which the shoe touches the ground to the point where the tip of your shoe land. This most likely means the slapping action gets more emphasized and the undue "shock" will most likely shoot up through your shin and knee. Quite often shin splint is caused by this slapping action. It is sooooooooo much easier for most so-called expert to come in and say, "Well you're running too much; you have an over-use syndrome..." Well, I don't necessarily consider anybody running around 25 miles a week to get "over-use" syndrome. Now one thing, though; I'm not telling anybody to just throw away those expensive shoes and get out and start running barefoot. Things don't work out that way. You need to strengthen your feet gradually so they can function as they are meant to. And perhaps there's nothing wrong with pampering your feet just when you run. In other words, you can strenthen them and be tough on them during the other time of the day and then be nice to your feet (to a degree) when you actually pound away... In fact, at one time what I tried was to do faster running in thick training flats and did long easy running in racing flats. I tend to run on my toes (mid-foot landing) and my Achilles take more beatings (stretching) when running faster. So I tried to assist my Achilles by wearing thicker soled shoes. It was the "other way around" but I think it worked. Whatelse did I miss to say?

Here's the thing: Running a 5K race tomorrow with the splints..... Went to the local running store to pick up my race packet yesterday, and shared my woes. Jumped on a treadmill and had the guy do a video gait analysis... Clearly I overpronate. So much so, that the guy was questioning whether i needed MORE control than my motion control shoe! I left out of there trusting the guys advice, which is pretty much that I put an insert in the new brooks that I have, and I wore them around the house yesterday, and will again today, and I don't know that I will wear them in the race tomorrow. He is of the opinion that I need to break my newer brooks in, and as I get better at my running form, the less trouble I will have beating up shoes after 200 miles. Nobby? I would love to hear from you? BTW, got up this morning, shins still hurt..... sigh....

I'm not a fan of treadmill evaluations. The reason why is because the treadmill is a much softer surface than what we actually run on and because it's softer it tends to make us pronate or pronate even more. When I first started running, I didn't know any better and had a treadmill eval done. They put me in motion control shoes. I wore those until I literally wore the outer rubber sole off down to the foam. I took them back when I went to get fitted for new shoes and told them that I didn't think these were the rigth shoes for me because of the wear. The wear indicated that I either a) supinated or b) these shoes were WAY too much support for what I needed. They chose to ignore the wear on the sole of the shoe which upset me a little bit and I argued with them. I trusted them again and again they put me in motion control shoes. Again I wear the outer edge down to the foam. The next time I went to a different running store, brought my old shoes in and had them look at me walking and jogging. They didn't watch me walk barefoot but rather in my shoes. They put me in a stability shoe. Ahhhhh!!!! Much better! I still supinated in them but it wasn't as bad. The wear was more even in these than they were in my motion control shoes. Go figure! A few pairs later I go to the new guys in town (I'm blessed that we have 4 locally owned running shops!) and they ask me to take my socks off and walk around. This time I find out that I really have a neutral gait which is what I thought all along. I did go with a stability trainer though because that is what I started my marathon training in and at that point in my journey (I was close to peaking) we both agreed that it wouldn't be a good idea to change the support. Next time I go for shoes I'll be trying some neutrals. Just make sure that they know what they are doing and if you question any of their practices and you have the option...........go somewhere else so you don't have to go through what I did.