With all the hype around Marathon Monday here in Beantown, I went into Niketown on Saturday morning to make use of the video gait analysis they were doing. I have had serious problems finding the perfect running shoe. With my flat feet, neutral running shoes make my arches (or lack thereof) cramp and the stability shoes made for over-pronaters like myself always result in serious blisters in my arch area. It got so bad that I just started taping my feet and that's how I made it through marathon training last year (seriously, I've tried everything -- Glide, moleskin, double-layer socks, the special Asic socks that are specially made for Left and Right feet).
The guy who did my analysis was great -- even more informed than the Marathon Sports guys I've had in the past (which despite my continual shoe failure I'm always impressed with). He even recommended a pair of Brooks shoes in addition to a Nike brand!
In any case, the actual analysis was pretty cool. I ran on the treadmill and they videotaped and displayed on the huge flat-screen my ankles and feet. WOW! I had no idea what was going on down there! It was so bad I was shocked people hadn't stopped me before because it seriously looked like my left foot was turning completely on its one side! As bad as that was, my right foot -- looked totally normally. I was SO lopsided. It explained my stress fracture in October and why the blisters were always so much more severe on my left foot.
I asked if I should be wearing two different types of shoes on each foot to compensate -- and his answer was "actually, yes." Or I could get orthotics specially-made for running if I continued to have shoe-drama. He also said I was probably doing this because my hip-muscles were tight and I should incorporate some yoga stretches like pigeon (which I had just read the other day!) and stretch extra long after my runs (FYI to the new runners who say they're inspired to run after a few of my posts - stretching AFTER your run is super important. You don't want to stretch cold muscles before you run). So next Niketown Running Club (on 4/30 since I'll be missing this week because of a conference call for work) I will be trying on the Nike pair he recommended and see how it goes.
Anyhow, I highly recommend video gait-analysis. It was SO interesting!
In the meantime, good luck to all the marathoners today! Especially my good friend Brandon (#2981)! I'm tracking him now and he's off to a good steady start with a 6:55 pace at the 10K mark! I'm wearing my new "RUN BEANTOWN" t-shirt today in honor of the race (damn... I'd rather be running the marathon than working today!).
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2 comments:
I always picture you running like phoebe.
btw - that last comment was by alex (although i'm thinking you could have guessed that)
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