Replacing runners so soon? (Read 1208 times)

Do you have high arches?  If so, you probably also have very stiff feet.  This means you may need to consider a more cushioned and supportive insole.  Some people like the superfeet ones but they are almost too stiff for people with high arches so the spenco total support insoles are kind of the opposite end of the spectrum.  You may need to try a few different ones before you find the right type.

 

Do you have flat feet?  If so, it's a similar issue but then you probably need custom orthotics.  Any decent podiatrist should be able to set you up with a pair that will last you for quite a few shoe rotations....

Why do arches need support?

 

Your feet bear the weight of your body.  If you aren't running or stressing the feet a lot then you probably don't need as much arch support.  However, running will sometimes fatigue the muscles in the foot and then additional arch support helps take some of the burden off of that supportive function in the foot. 

BTW, not everyone necessarily needs the same amount of arch support either.  People with flat feet or especially high arches definitely have more issues than those who do not have either extreme. 

 

Moving around will sometimes fatigue the muscles in the body and then a wheelchair helps take some of the burden off of that supportive function in the body.

 

Do you "need" a wheelchair because you are fatigued?

 

I don't understand the correlation. A midfoot striker with high arches should be the combination with the lowest impact on the foot, I would think.

All due respect, I'm totally with Dakota.  Floppage, I've read some of your posts; you seemingly sound legit but almost everything you say sounds way too much like a textbook that you had memorized for some sort of exam.  I almost feel like you work for a local running store and you have read most of what you had shared in the store manual.  Like I said, it actually sounds legit but, well, remember the Harvard University professor Dr. Lieberman who first came in the spotlight when he started talking about barefoot running--of course, at the same time, a book called "Born to Run" became one of the best-sellers and, boom, everybody started to talk about barefoot running or minimalist shoes; an almost complete opposite of what all the shoe manufacturers had been doing for decades and, guess what, people actually survived.

If what you're saying is right and that our arch gets tired during exercise and we need support (God knows what is "long" exercise...2 miles?  Or 20-miles???); if that is true, we actually wouldn't have arch.  Human crawled out of a cave thousands (or million?) years ago and they were just fine chasing "food".  If their arches collapsed and would need a arch wheelchair (;o)), they would have all starved to death (well, until they learnt to harvest).

This, of course, is not to say that everybody should throw away shoes and start running barefoot.  Most people's arch is probably too weak to take that ,HOWEVER, with proper strengthening exercises, every one of us CAN get to the point where we can run barefoot with no problem.  Human body is not a machine or something you can calculate mathematically.  You give adequate amount of stress and it will get stronger,  You keep giving "support" and it will become weaker and weaker.  It is as if some shoe companies want us to be weaker so they can sell expensive "supportive" shoes.  You drive a car everywhere; and you get so weak that running a couple of miles a day, a few times a week, can become hell of an effort.  You run everywhere and anywhere when you're little; and you'll develop a superb fitness level which would pay off in the later years by being able to win some major marathon races around the world.

Everyone is different.  It sounds like Dakota RR doesn't need as much arch support as others and LizC needed more initially.

 

Personally, I am a midfoot striker with high arches so I put a pretty good beating on my feet so I try to be aware of arch support when I'm not running.

 

In the end, we are all an experiment of one.

Also, personally, I hate anybody who brings this up all over the place.  Sure, everybody is different.  But the principles are all the same.  "Everybody is different", to me, is a very convenient escape while still making you look like you know what you're talking about.  If it is true that "EVERYBODY IS DIFFERENT", then what's the point of coming to a public forum like this asking some question?  We're all different; nobody can even answer any of our question.