A Contraversial Problem

One foot forward in front of the other. Repeatedly. Quickly.

Running. So simple!

Or not, it seems!

Have a look at this photo - can you see the problem?

This is a running trainer with pockets of gel positioned around the outside of the sole. Perfect for runners who land on the outside of their heel when they run. All the support is there where you need it (for supination).

These trainers cured all my problems with knee pain over night and made running enjoyable again!

But.

All the support on the outside meant that the inside of the trainer has collapsed leading to 'pronation'. Now the trainers which stopped my knees hurting are causing the ligaments up the front of my shins to pull away from the bone when I run. Left untreated, the shock going through my shins which would be softened by the ligaments will lead to micro-fractures of the bone.

Welcome to the world of shin splints!

The answer?

Well it's obvious - get a pair of trainers with support on the inside of the sole.... can you guess what would happen next?!

But there is another way.

I've been asking around and playing around with different techniques, and apparently I've been running wrongly all my life!

If when you run, you land with the fore-sole of your foot so that the weight of your body is directly above your foot when you land, you can avoid the above problems all together. Your gait gets shorter, your cadence becomes faster, your shin splints and ankle pain disappear, it takes less effort to propel your self forward and you get faster as you bring your heel up higher and can get more force into pushing your self off on each step.

Oh but of course, you have to buy the correct mid-sole strike trainers for this technique. And to make life more interesting, not all runners believe in it...

And when those runners run the running shops you get your trainers from, it's rather hard to get the trainer you want and sound like you know what you're talking about when you want to start every sentence with "I was reading on google".

AND not only THAT! But I can't just go and buy my self a pair of trainers to solve my problem even if i could convince the shop owner that i know what i'm talking about. I'm going to Newcastle this weekend to run the Great North Run... Changing trainers and running style 5 days before the race just isn't an option - blister central!

So on Sunday I'll be running in my knackered and completely fundamentally 'wrong' trainers hoping that my battered, bruised and complaining shins will just let me do one more 13.1 mile jog....

I bet Mo doesn't have this problem!