new trainers - wrong choice? - Gear

Lisa Jenkins 3

30/04/2012 at 21:03

my old trainers (asics nimbus 12) had seen better days so i had a gait analysis before buying new ones. my old ones had been fine but thought i should just double check that i was wearing the correct shoes. i was told that i over pronate slighly in the left foot and neutral in the right so i was advised to buy support shoes ( my old ones were neutral), tried them out tonight for the first time and they were ok but not completly convinced. My knees ached but then they ached in the old ones by the end as im in the middle of marathon training!

i am now thinking that the girl in the shop didnt really know what she was talking about and am worried that wearing the wrong trainers will end in injury?? am running the edinburgh marathon in a month and not sure what to do. any advise would be great!

PSC

pirate

30/04/2012 at 21:10

if you are in doubt I would get a second opinion. Most podiatrists will do gait analysis and most know what they are talking about. Ask on here (the forum) for advise on the area you live in and I am sure someone will pop up with advice on where to go locally to you....

jim brown 18

30/04/2012 at 21:30

which shop was it

Lisa Jenkins 3

30/04/2012 at 21:38

it was DW sports, i know should have gone to a specialist running shop but the closest one is about 30 miles away

RicF

30/04/2012 at 21:49

Depends how you define correct shoes. If you are talking about the difference in running shoes then not much. Support shoes are designed with the idea that over time they don't collapse due to over pronation forces being placed upon them. Wrong shoes for running would be anything not designed for running in, i.e, heels, flip flops, wellys, slippers.

exiled claret

01/05/2012 at 05:58

Well, they may or may not have known what they were on about - if looking for advice I'd consider it well worth travelling 30 miles away.
However, you have said your knees have been aching anyway. If you change shoes, especially type of shoe it often takes a little while for your body to adjust, so it is impossible to say from just one run. Both my last 2 pairs have had me wondering if I made a mistake, but after about 50 miles have felt absolutely right.

Alexander Neumuller

03/05/2012 at 17:36

Hi Lisa, from the information you have provided, I would have advised you to stick to a neutral shoe, as your only pronating slightly on one side and not all on the other. If you then run in slight support shoe or full support shoes, it will simply push your foot arch up, and this can result in knee pains quickly. Especially if one does not need support. In the longer term this could result in injury.

If your old shoes cause you knee pains, even though they are neutral, it could be either due to your marathon training or because the sole/cushioning is gone. But this would be hard to tell by me, as I have not see the shoes.

Debra Bourne

04/05/2012 at 17:46

Agree with Alexander. I have flat feet. Running shops always try to get me into anti-pronation shoes and they make my knees hurt too. Go back to neutral!

3:30 or bust

04/05/2012 at 22:36

Moral of this story : if you find shoes that work for you dont change !!

dancing in spikes

08/05/2012 at 11:52

Did you have a gait analysis before the first purchase? It is possbile that the pronation she saw, if she saw it, was being caused by another, temporary, problem - e.g. a past injury or stiffness somewhere else, or an unevenness in your arm swing (have you been running carrying a bag or water), or possibly even not being used to running on a treadmill and being a bit off-balance.

In the past, I've always been diagnosed as neutral, but I've got a repetative left shoulder injury that causes my right foot to occassionally and suddenly pronate quite dramatically. I'm now wearing universally posted shoes, which are designed for everyone, whether they are neutral, over or under pronators, and I haven't had any problems with them.

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