Modify Your Shoes

As your shoes wear, it can be helpful to modify them.  Your natural thought might be to add shoe goo and cushioned insoles to the worn spots, but consider going the other way, especially if the wear is more pronounced on either the inside or outside of your foot.

In my case, I get some wear on the outside of my heels, even though I try to use a forefoot strike.  When my heel becomes worn on the outside, I then trim the inside with a knife.  This allows me to continue wearing the old shoes, and I feel it actually improves the mechanics of my gait and foot strike.

The Heel Strike

It happened again.

I was chatting with a guy at a party, and he bemoaned the fact that he can't run anymore, due to a couple of compressed disks in his back.  He said the only way he was able to run as long as he did, in to his old age, was because he used heel inserts made of a substance invented by NASA.  It was a resilient rubber designed for the O rings of rocket engines after the Challenger failure.

I contend that his compressed disks are an injury directly caused by the unnatural gait of a heel strike.  You can't do a heel strike in bare feet or leather sandals.  The heel strike sends a shock wave up your leg, causing shinsplints, knee problems, and back issues.  It is not a mechanically sustainable method of running.

But I guess we will see.  This guy was 10 or 15 years my elder, and I know we all eventually get injured, wear out, and perish.  At 55 years old I still feel able bodied and capable.  I will continue to avoid the heel strike, and see if that allows me to run in to my golden years.

Wear the Wrong Shoes

Ten or twelve years ago I developed severe running pain in my lower calfs.  During my runs, a slow burn would develop, and I would sometimes need to walk because the pain was too much.  It felt like some deep down layers of ligaments were torn or damaged.  Those rubbery sinewy parts that don't heal.

I unhappily concluded that all those fatties at coffee hour who say "the body just cant take all that pounding," were right.  My 30 years of running was coming to an end.  I resolved not to waste money on a new pair of running shoes unless this pain would go away.

I tried to change my gait.  I rested.  I massaged, I tried to strengthen my calfs.  I stretched.  Nothing worked.  I was done.  My body was finally worn out.

Then, for some reason, I set out one morning with a different pair of shoes.  Not a new pair, just a different pair.  And joy of joys, the pain went away!  I discovered if I wore my other pair of shoes, the pain returned.

Well, that's a simple fix.  But there is a little more to it.

As the miles add up for you over the years,  swap out your shoes frequently.  And I mean frequently.  Right now, I own two pairs of Nikes (different models), a pair of Brooks, Fila and Saucony.  Each pair gives a totally different ride.  I seldom wear the same pair for consecutive runs.  My hypothesis is that this changes the stress points on your legs and back.  If you wear the same shoes always, then the same parts of your body are stressed, and will lead to repetitive motion injuries.

Your shoes aren't only for your feet - they affect your mechanics all the way up your ankles, lower legs, knees, thighs, hips and back.  And it is true what the fatties at coffee hour say about all that pounding.  So you need to change out your shoes to vary the pounding.

You are much better off buying two different pairs of off brand shoes from the department store for $60 each, rather than one highly engineered pair from the running store for $120.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.