The Right Shoes

     I have been running for about 6 years now.  All this time I thought I was wearing the "right" shoes.  I thought that the more supportive the shoe was, the better it was for me.  I was WRONG!

     I went to see an orthopedist last week to see if he could help me with my plantar fasciitis so that I can hit the pavement again.  He informed me that I was in the wrong shoes.  I have been running in Brooks Adrenalines every year.  I wear one pair out and replace them with a new one.

     He compared  my shoes to a cast.  When you have to wear a cast, your muscles start to atrophy.  My shoes were like casts for my feet.  To make matters even worse, I had supportive inserts in an already too supportive shoe.   My feet didn't have to do any work in my shoes.  They weren't doing any work.  When I changed to a less supportive shoe (on the advice of a man at the running store), my foot got "angry" because it had to work now.  Therefore, I developed the plantar fasciitis.

     This made perfect sense once he explained it all to me.  Why hadn't anyone told me this before?  I am now supposed to gradually work my way down to much less supportive shoes.  My progression was to first remove the supportive inserts in the Adrenalines for a few weeks.  Then, put those inserts in my Ravennas for a couple of weeks.  Next, remove the inserts from the Ravennas.  The goal is to work my way down to a pair of Pure Cadence shoes that have minimal support.

     In case you are wondering, the orthopedist I saw specializes in running and running injuries.  He gives lectures around the country about both topics.  He is also a runner himself.

     Do you have any running injuries?  Could the wrong shoes be part of your problem also?

Here is a link from the American College of Sports Medicine about selecting running shoes.
https://www.acsm.org/docs/brochures/running-shoes.pdf

Here is a list of recommended shoes that I received.