Get fit for running shoes #Episode 197

gabbo34

Common advice you get is to get fit for running shoes. But even then things can go wrong.

Started running in August. Got fit for shoes after a lot of costly mistakes in the past. The new pair of shoes felt great. No pain running at all. Ran my first 5k, another 5k, 10k and doing 20 miles a week in preparation for a 1/2 marathon in the spring.

The last few weeks the insides of my ankles would be really sore a few hours after I ran and the next day. They didn't hurt when I actually ran...just afterward.

So I got back to another running store that just opened near by and was very high recommended. The guy took at look at my gait and said I overpronated a lot and the nuetral shoes I had weren't providing the support I needed.

I'm not sure if my gait changed once I started running more or if I had a bad fit the first time. (the shoes I had were also too narrow for my feet.)

The new shoes are OK....for whatever reason I had a really sluggish run the first time out. They felt heavy and I felt fatigued earlier than normal...hopefully it was just a bad run. Unfortunately the pain is back today. The guy who fit me mentioned I may want to get checked for posterior tibula tendonitis. Looking on the internet the symptoms sound similar....so I may be taking a few weeks off to get healed up.

Moral of the story, get fit for running shoes. And if anything feels odd....get it checked out immediately.

MeanderingMammal

I think the key lesson is largely about moderating your progress. Too much, too soon seems more likely than the shoes.

SonicDeathMonkey80

Sounds like a classic case of overuse rather than faulty shoes. What have your weekly mileage and paces looked like for the past month?

Maleficent0241

Started running this August, as in a few months ago? I agree with the above, too much too soon is likely the biggest factor here.

gabbo34

I may have pushed it a little. i was doing an endomondo program that was similar to Hal Higdon.

My mileage after my first 5k race in September

9/29 - 10.82
10/6 - 12.82
10/13 - 16.78
10/20 - 18.69
10/27 -19.92
11/3 - 21.25
11/10 - 16.75
11/17 - 23.85
11/24 - 18.33

This week - 5.5

Looking back, I did ramp up the first month pretty quickly - but after that it's been a pretty consistent distance. I normally do two to three 4-6 mile runs a week and a longer 6-9 mile run on the weekend. I probably should kept my weekday runs a little shorter and not pushed so much to stretch out distance on the weekend.

MeanderingMammal

It looks like you've crammed the 5K progression a bit too fast, and then compounded that later.

I think the biggest cause of my knee injury in October was just that, I'd had significantly reduced mileage because of some medication and Doctors advice not to run in case I keeled over and died on the roadside! When I got the all clear (observation that the previous advice was nonsense) I then went from about 20 miles pw to 60 including a race.

I use the Endomondo plans as well, and they can be a bit overambitious sometimes if the input information is inadequate.

gabbo34

Good point....I had finished up the c25k and was ready to go a longer distance. I used the endomondo program to go to 10k, but jumped to that race distance quickly. . It ramped up the mileage/time pretty quick. I should have eased into it- but felt really good after every run. And to be honest, I was excited about the mileage. I would want to run 5 miles instead of 3. Or 10 on a weekend instead of 5. As someone who'd never run before it was motivating to see the weekly/monthly totals. Plus it accelerated my weight loss with the added benefit of 2,000+ extra calories a week.

Hopefully few weeks off, stretching and more stable shoes will help. When I start back up I'll definitely ease into it with a strict 10% rule starting back at 10 miles a week.

@SDM - my race pace at the last 5k was 8:20/mi. My weekday runs were at ~9:30 per mile and my longer runs were at ~10:00 per mile.