Looking at this slow motion video of Haile confused me a bit. He's obviously an overpronator. No way of hiding that. Nonetheless he's in racing flats (no stability), which means the pronation is all over the place. He's injury free most of the time.
Makes a girl and fellow overpronator wonder. Are they just trying to sell me those bulky stability shoes? Do I really need those? Recovering from the calf strain my bulky Asics GT-2150s make it worse, and my Newtons let me run relatively painfree. Wouldn't it be a better idea to work on my gait, the strength in my lower legs and my running form? And alternate stability/motion control shoes and barefoot running shoes in my training cycle?
I guess I could call this 'Opinions wanted Wednesday'. :)
10 comments:
I don't think you can look at one world class athlete and make generalizations about the population. I work at a running store and have seen thousands of people benefit from higher stability shoes. But, if running in newtons is helping you, then go for it. Just be careful if you're not used to running in them!
@ Beth: Thanks for sharing your thoughts! :)Just to be clear: I'm not making generalizations here. It just made me wonder. Especially since my coach keeps telling me that overpronation that isn't fixed with stability shoes will for sure cause injuries.
Opinion = probably. :)
@ Ms.Duffy: Hahaha! Thanks for sharing. ;)
I was wearing stability shoes for almost 4 years until I started running with my new run club. My run club coach diagnosed me as not only an overpronator, but an over pronator who is a heel striker. Once i started running with a mid foot strike, the stability shoes needed to come off. i switched to a milder control shoe. I went to my local running store, and they put me in an Asics 3020 which is a much lighter shoes but still provides some stability. It felt like I lost half the weight on my feet after running on my bulky Saucony super control shoes for so long. So while I have never even seen a pair of newtons, i know that my Asics are super light and I have had no issues since switching to them almost six months ago!
You're on the right track. I ditched the stability nonsense last year. Shortened my stride and learned how to run light on my feet with a midfoot strike. I do a lot of my miles in 4 oz. racing flats now and feel better all the time. I switch off between the flats and some neutral trainers. Warning though. Calves, achillies, feet all need time to strenthen and adjust. Be careful, listen to your feet, and most importantly have fun.
all this shoe talk [everywhere, I look, magazines, tv, expos] makes my head hurt. Just do what feels best/normal/cozy for you. Easier said than done, I know. ;)
My understanding is it's okay to switch to racing flats on race day, but for your regular/training runs where the shoe that supports you the best. The point of the racing flat is to lighten your feet for speed.
I still think that proper shoe fitting is magic. Small changes in the fit of a shoe can cause all sorts of problems, and it's so personal. The thing I find the scariest is that sometimes it takes a while for a shoe-related injury to set in. I just wish there was some sort of "yes, this will help" or "no, this is NOT your shoe!" test that could be used...
Thanks all, for sharing your thoughts!
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