Running Shoes

Wear the correct shoes:

When looking for the correct shoes it can be quite a jungle out there with so many different types to choose from. Shortly I’ll give a list of the top shoe brands out there. Visiting their individual website will give you a lot of information about the best shoe for you. As a general rule there are categories for the type of terrain you are using; such as trail, mountain, road, race and long distance running. Within these categories you also have the type of fit you need depending on the severity of pronation or supination you have, plus other special requirements you may have. Lastly there is the type of shoe to suit your running style whether it be heel strike, midfoot strike or forefoot strike.

All the different shoe companies have many patented technologies that all sound highly intelligent and impressive, but whatever it is they say, you want to make sure you check and consider the following with regards to your own feet.

Dorsiflexion:

Check the amount of dorsiflexion you can achieve and how stiff this movement feels to you. You should be able to achieve 10 degrees of dorsiflexion in a non-weight bearing seated position (you may need someone to help you). Also note how stiff it feels to push your foot into full dorsiflexion.

Determining this will help you understand how high a heel you want. Personally I think modern running shoes are developing far too high a heel and this can lead to something known as ankle equinus. Ankle equinus is the medical term given to shortening of the achilles tendon leading to reduction of dorsiflexion in the foot. So running with a high heel can lead to a shortening of the achilles tendon. Long term shortening of a tendon like this will undoubtedly lead to achilles tendonitis and/or shin splints. This is what happened to me. I started wearing asics kayano and within a few weeks I developed very painful shin splints in both legs. I believe this particular model of shoe had too high a heel. HOWEVER if you have a reduced dorsiflexion movement or a stiff movement in general, it may help to start off with higher than normal heels and gradually acclimatise over time to a reduced heel size. Having the slight heel increase will help with supporting your reduced dorsiflexion and prevent overstrain to the achilles tendon.

Determining the degree of heel raise you want to look for phrases such as, heel to toe differential, heel to toe offset or heel to toe lift etc.

Ankle Support:

If you have sustained any form of ankle sprain in your life you should consider this when buying your shoe. Lateral sprains (outside of the ankle) are the most common with medial (inside of the ankle) being the most severe. The subtalar joint (pic directly right, formed by the talus in grey and the calcaneous below), which I haven’t mentioned up until this point, produces the small movements called inversion and eversion. When ligaments are torn, which is what a sprain is, they are permanently stretched. Ligaments do not contain any elastic properties, so any unnatural force that causes the ligament to elongate will mean that ligament is permanently elongated because there is no elasticity to bring the ligament back to its original position. This means the ligament no longer functions properly to support the subtalar joint and therefore the inversion/eversion movements can increase.

So it is important to consider solid ankle support to reduce this increased inversion/eversion movement. If this movement is severe in some people they are more prone to spraining their ankle again when running. Additionally your leg muscles will have to work harder to prevent and stop the ankle producing too much of this movement and maintain balance.

Over pronation:

A. Normal foot, B. Pronation (collapsed arch or flat foot),
C. Supination (high arch).

With a wet foot, walk on an A4 piece of paper (preferably a coloured piece) and see what happens. You foot should look something like A on the picture to the right. If you foot looks like B then you are over pronated and if your foot looks like C then you have high arches. Most people have normal to over pronated arches. This means you will want to look for a shoe to support your medial arch to the degree to which it has collapsed. High arches on the other hand mean you will want support for the toes, especially at the little toe area. This is where most of the pressure will go as the spring mechanism of the medial arch is bypassed. So you want shoes that accommodate this. This is often called mid sole cushioning or lateral arch cushioning.

Other considerations:

Shoe companies often talk about foot spread or how wide the shoe is. This is also beneficial to consider to you that have quite wide or thin feet. When you run your feet will naturally expand and so you will want shoes that can accommodate this expansion, rather than squashing your toes together during your run. With this you can also consider any calluses or bunions you may have too. You want make sure your shoes will have a good mid sole width (that is often where the shoes laces begin at the bottom of the shoe).

It is also worth noting that not all two feet are actually the same. I for example have quite a reduced arch on my right foot as opposed to a normal arch on my left foot.

Here are some of the top running shoe brands and like I say their websites are often worth checking out for extra information.

Asics

Newton Gravity

Salomon

New Balance

Brooks

Saucony

Hoka one one

Vibram 5 fingers

Nike

Addidas