Running Advice From Your Mate Down the Pub – Part 3
Let's Shop!
Attention All Beginners! He's back again with a rallying cry to all new runners. "Stop prevaricating. Let’s get out there and ……shop!"
Oh alright, so I’ve put the cart before the horse and written Part 2 about How Far To Go For A Run before writing Part 3, which fully intends to discuss the importance of Finding The Right Running Shoes.
But look, even if you’ve already been around the block a few times, literally rather than figuratively, there’s still time to avoid making a big mistake in your choice of footwear.
And while discussing strategies for a spot of retail therapy may appear to be a bit of a cop-out for a column of this kind, you really can’t afford to underestimate the importance of getting your footwear right
Mistakes to Avoid
Now, the first mistake you’re likely to make is simply strapping on any old pair of trainers and assuming that they’ll be fine until you get round to buying an up to date pair of ‘proper running shoes.’ Wrong.
I did this myself 7 years ago, dusting down a super-lightweight but squashed flat pair of Mizunos, which gave me neither support nor cushioning. Which is almost certainly why my knees and ankles became stiff and swollen within a few days of starting to run again.
I then compounded the error by going to a discount sports shop and buying the first pair of blingy Nikes that I found in my size. They got me a little further than the Mizunos, but still led directly to a serious ankle problem that ultimately led to a total detachment of the anterior ligament on my right ankle.
And that, of course, was when I decided to stop being such a tight-wad and know-all, and visit a proper running centre, there to be relieved of all my misconceptions and quite a lot of my money.
Gait Analysis
I walked in with my heart almost as heavy as my pre-prepared wallet, assuming that the slim, athletic assistants were going to first mock me, and then fleece me. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. They didn’t mock me once.
Instead, they gave me a full ‘gait analysis’, whereby running across a long mat connected to a PC enables them to see what sort of footprint you leave when you run, and also how much your foot ‘pronates’ during the running motion.
Broadly speaking, people with flat feet will ‘overpronate’, running on the inside of the foot, while people with very high arches will ‘underpronate’, running on the outside of their feet. Some 70% of runners overpronate, 20% more underpronate, and there’s also a lucky 10% of us who are ‘neutral’ runners, doing neither.
The bad news if you pronate one way or the other, is that this will not only make you less efficient as a runner, but it may also lead to injuries.
But the good news is that a decent ‘motion control’ shoe can help to minimize the extent to which you over- or under-pronate, and save you a lot of niggling injuries in the process.
In my case, it turned out that I have a surprisingly neutral running motion, and that all I actually needed was a good amount of cushioning, for which the running shop guy recommended either Asics Gel Cumulus or Asics Gel Nimbus shoes, allowing me to try them both on the treadmill, before I chose the carper-slipper comfy Gel Cumulus, handed over my £95 and headed home.
I’m now on about my 15th pair of Cumuluses (Cumulii?), and the good news, financially speaking, is that I can generally buy them for around half the list price, on either ebay or through the big sports sheds.
The really important thing though is that I took expert advice before it was too late, and found a shoe that suits my feet, my weight and my running style down to the ground. Combined with my favourite Thorlos running socks, I can now run as often as I like without so much as a slight blister, never mind a total ankle failure.
And so, even if you’re mean enough to only do it the once, like I did, if you haven’t already been to a specialist running shop to get a gait analysis done, and to collect some expert advice, please, please do so. It may be the most important shopping trip you ever make.
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The next part of "my mate from the pub" will be in a couple of weeks time, but in the meantime catch up with more from Derek on his brilliant blog Taking Jelly Babies From Strangers.
Taking Jelly Babies From Strangers
Visit http://tjbfs.com/
What are your favourite running shoes? Let us know on the Running Bug Forum.
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