More cowbell!
Hi all. About a year ago, I switched over from using heavily cushioned, stability shoes, Nike Zoom Vomero's, to a more neutral shoe, Saucony ProGrid Guides. The results have been mixed...literally. In runs of longer than about 5 miles, I find that I am tiring out and wind up pounding the crap out of my left ankle by excessive heel striking. My right foot though is able to maintain a normal midfoot strike. Ran a 9-miler yesterday, and it feels like someone used a meat tenderizer on my left heel/ankle. I think this is part of the reason I wound up developing a stress rxn in the left ankle back in December.
So I'm thinking one of two things. One, change back to the Zoom Vomero's. Two, to keep using the lighter shoes but trying to find a cushioned insole to use on the left shoe. Any thoughts? FWIW, I am 5'8", 193#.
STILL HAVING FUN!!!
hop, hop, hop...
Odd that it would only happen on longer runs. What kind of surfaces are you running on?
MM #8764 / HF #6535 / Double Agent #668
PRs: 5K - 27:43, 10K - 57:14, HM - 2:06:18, FM - 5:22:42
~How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were supposed to be?~
Why did you switch in the first place? I am in the, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" camp.
Short term goal: 17:59 5K
Mid term goal: 2:54:59 marathon
Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life. (I started running at age 45).
Mainly asphalt, some trails.
I switched in an attempt to help me gradually change into a more efficient, upright stride that would come from landing in the midsole rather than the heel, and all of the shoes I'd had before had around a 12 mm heel to toe drop. So rather than going minimal, I found a comfortable shoe that had around a 9 mm heel to toe drop.
Are the trails canted (cambered?) to either side? To me that would be a viable reason for this to happen. I make sure to alter my route frequently because all of the roads and even many of the sidewalks around here are angled to some degree. Another thing that might be causing it is muscle imbalance. Do you do any strength/core work?
I do a moderate amount of core work; no six-pack, but I'm not a Pillbury dough-boy either. I do my best to run on roads/sidewalks with no camber to them. It is very uncomfortable to run on roads against traffic, where the camber leans to the left. If I can safely get away with it, I will run where it is flat or where the camber is to the right.