When I said I was going to run a marathon, I spread it around at work. My boss, who is a pretty fit guy, said he ran a marathon and he'd never do it again as his toe nails fell out after the race. While 26.2 miles is pretty grueling, and your body takes a lot of punishment, I wanted to find out why this happened to him. Off to the inter-web I went.
As it turns out, he made 2 fatal errors. He didn't adequately prepare, and he didn't have to correct shoe to run a marathon in. So, after talking with another runner I work with who has run several half-marathons & is running his first full marathon in 2 weeks in Venice, he suggested, nay, told me, to go get a gait analysis. I know I hit on this in an earlier blog, but I am going to cover it a bit more in depth now.
He directed me to a running store in downtown Kaiserslautern to get my analysis accomplished. It was in the basement of a running store, and it consisted of me running on a treadmill, barefooted, at a 5 mile per hour pace for about 3 minutes. The guy running the analysis was recording my running to check on some vital items:- Mechanics - is the correct portion of the foot hitting the ground first, are you dragging your feet off the ground or are they leaving the ground cleanly, are my knees rotating, etc
- Pronation - does the foot roll inward or outward while running, and if so, how badly
- Arches - what type of arch does the runner have, high, normal or flat
I'm sure his trained eye was looking for more than this, but these are the things he pointed out to me. He then asked my shoe size for my everyday shoes. He said that size was too small & I should be wearing a half size larger shoe... who knew! I want to hit on pronation before I move on. As you can see from the diagram to the left, pronation is how the foot rolls while running, or even walking. Uncorrected, this can lead to several major issues, including bunions, ankle issues from the stress, tendonitis, heel spurs, as well as several other issues that can cause pain for the rest of ones life. The articles I have read on pronation suggest that people should get a gait analysis to get the proper shoe, even for day to day wear to avoid foot & leg problems.
The guy performing my analysis brought out 3 different shoes for me to try on. Each had it's benefits & downfalls. I respect the fact that the first shoe the man offered me to try was not the most expensive, but yet the best shoe for me! I am a big guy and he said that this one had the best cushioning to help absorb the excess shock I'd be placing on my feet & legs.
After trying on all 3 pairs, I settled on the one that felt the best on my foot. He told me, take them for a jog around the downtown market area. Cool! Try before you buy! I ran in the shoes for about 5-10 minutes to see how they felt. They really did feel good, so I decided on those. Unfortunately, in Germany, they use the Euro. It is a bad exchange rate for us here. I didn't buy the shoes form the guy, but found them online, for cheaper, and free shipping! Sorry dude!
I got the Asics Gel Nimbus 11. My feet have thanked me everyday since I have started wearing them! I also got a set of quick laces, which are basically thin bungee cords with the little plastic cord lock things from backpacks & jackets. This will let my shoe expand as my feet swell on longer runs.Shoes have a life span, which isn't always dependant on how the shoe looks. One statistic said that around 60% of all people are walking around in "dead shoes." The average shoes cushioning breaks down at about 300-400 miles. shoes developed for marathon running, which you can tell by the price, are usually good for about 500 miles. After that, they may look okay on the outside, but the internal cushioning is gone, offering no protection to the bones & joints, and actually causes more harm than good.
I'm not sure if any of this info will ever be relevant to ya'll but I wanted to share exactly how in depth I am going with this marathon. If you're gonna do it, do it right!
No comments:
Post a Comment