Is it the shoes...hmmm...? (Read 717 times)

Ok, so I have had a month of almost entirely crap runs. The first few after my HM 4 weeks ago I chalked-up to recovery. But no explanation for the past 3 weeks of crummy-ness. I think I may have a theory, though. About a week after my HM I got another pair of my regular trainers, but the all-weather version. Same shoe, different, 2-layered upper. Right away I found them to be stiffer than the regular version, but figured they'd loosen-up and be fine. Here I am with almost 65 miles on them and I still feel like they are stiff. The weird thing is I had this exact model of shoe all last Winter, but I had gone from a higher stability model to these...so I'm kind of thinking maybe that's why I didn't notice. My best runs in recent weeks have been in my lightweight, lower stability trainers. These have stretchier uppers and a more flexible sole. At first I thought it was coincidence that my runs in them were better than my runs in my all-weather trainers, but now I'm starting to think maybe there's something to my theory. Last night I had my first good run in weeks...in my lightweight trainers. Tonite I did 7 easy miles in my all-weather shoes and they were back to being meh. I have an older pair of the same shoe without the all-weather uppers that I am going to wear for my next run...I have a feeling I will be wearing these for my HM in a week, too. So has anyone else had a similar experience with comparable shoes that have a different material upper, even if the rest of the shoe is identical? I almost feel as if I am fighting with the shoe. k

Yeah, I think I will end up wearing my older version of the shoe for the race (the same shoes I wore for my kickass HM, so they are already kind of my "lucky" shoes). They still have well under 200 miles on them, so they should be OK. I always get leery as I get close to 200 miles, though, as I don't have a good history getting shoes much beyond 225 miles before they are pretty dead for me. k

"New and Improved" isn't necessarily improved!

I hear that a lot. As soon as the 768 comes out I will buy a pair and if I don't like them as well after a few weeks I will be stockpiling the 767s. Though I hope that doesn't happen. The new model is reported to be almost identical, only with more forefoot cushioning, which is exactly what I am hoping for. k

I'd be surprised if the fit changed too much--I've had great luck with 6 different models of NB shoes in 8D/wide that have all fit me the same in length. Though I hear that they are going to be making their soles for wide shoes wider in upcoming models, rather than just cutting the uppers more generously. I'll be interested to see how that changes overall fit of their shoes.

Maybe it's just Asics then... Anyway, to answer your original question, if the shoe feels noticeably different then yes, it could certainly cause you problems. Anything that feels different can subtly change your mechanics and that could cause the symptoms you described. I've had some discomfort in my right foot for some months now, and it's not that bad, but it's caused subtle changes in my mechanics that in turn are making it tough on my right achilles tendon. Not shoe-related (I think) but the same principle applies. Or it could be entirely unrelated. Sorry.

Yeah, my left Achilles has been giving me fits for a few weeks...I think there's something to what you are saying. I really think the stiffer uppers are preventing my foot from moving as naturally as it needs to through my stride. Almost like wearing a shoe with too much stability.