When should I change my running shoes?

Our blog is now featured on our website (www.globaltherapies.com). You should be redirected automatically to this article on our new site.

If you get an ERROR MESSAGE, or you are not redirected please press the REFRESH button on your browser.

I was pondering this one the other day.
With so many people constantly pounding the streets/fells/treadmills, there is a massive market for running shoes. However, they are rather expensive, so when you have a pair of shoes you naturally want them to last for as long as feasably possible. Once their running days are over, you may use them as a pair of slippers, a trophy or something to keep handy in order to throw at next doors cat.

The question is when is a good time to buy a new pair? How long can I continue wearing these bashed up old shoes- they feel comfortable, so therefore they can't be too bad, right?

It has been said by some people, (and a lot of shoe companies, who stand to make a fair old whack from it), that you should have a general rotation of 3 pairs of shoes, an old pair, which are beginning to wear out, a middling pair which have been broken in, and a pretty much brand new pair, which you are in the process of breaking in. The advantage of this is you don't continually trash one pair into the ground, gradually destroying any semblance of support it might once have had and then buy a brand new pair of trainers which have a level of support/cushioning etc. which you then have to get used to all over again. Instead, you have a constant rotation of old and new shoes so that you never have a massive step from one type of shoe to another.

This is really good if
a) you always use the same shoes and
b) you have a lot of money

I don't think I've ever actually bought the same shoes time and again, mainly because I never used to run enough to wear out a pair before some snazzy new thing came out that I wanted to try- and by the time I wore them out, again, there was some brand new "tech" that was innovative, and again, I'd buy those shoes.

Notice that I have just been talking about "cushioning" and "support". A lot of Barefoot runners will be sitting there sneering saying, well, my shoes don't have any cushioning OR support. That all comes from my foot and the way in which I run.
Well. inov8 X-talons are pretty close to minimalist shoes, and when they look like this....
its about time to replace them.



Lets have a closer look at those shoes.

I asked the runner to stand evenly with both feet shoulder width apart. Obviously the left foot is a bit worse than the right- the grip isn't being utilised fully, and the inov8 symbol certainly isnt pointing straight up and down the shoe. You might also notice all the wrinkles (in the shoe, not the legs), where long term, some might say excessive use has slowly deformed the shoe into its current state.
I'm not saying this runner shouldn't use Inov8s because they don't correct his gait issues, I'm simply drawing attention to the fact that even "barefoot" or "low profile" shoes, also have a life span and need to be replaced and that isn't necessarily to do with when the grip wears out.

Take a quick look at a non-destroyed pair of inov8s look- (they've been worn, but not worn out)

Take note of the way an inov8 shoe looks from the back when it isn't completely destroyed. The foot symbol on the back of the shoe points straight up. The grips are all touching the floor. It is a stable platform on which your foot sits. The platform is flexible and your foot controls it in an intuitive way- which makes it more like barefoot running than "shod" running, however, as you run in them, be aware that if you have bad biomechanics, you will wear the shoe out faster.

Have a look at your shoes and ask yourself if they are still providing a decent platform for your feet. Yes, new shoes are expensive, but so is a knee/ankle op when things go wrong and you get an overuse injury from bad biomechanics... and if you say- ah well- I can wait for the op on the NHS, think about the long months during which you won't be able to run because you've screwed up your knee. Surely thats worth looking at how good/bad your shoes are, and forking out for a replacement if necessary.

Shin Splints

Our blog is now featured on our website (www.globaltherapies.com). You should be redirected automatically to this article on our new site.

If you get an ERROR MESSAGE, or you are not redirected please press the REFRESH button on your browser.

Having seen some interesting theories on Shin Splints and what to do about them in recent days, I thought I might write a little about them.

There are actually 3 different conditions which are known as shin splints, so its quite useful to be able to differentiate between them. I'll start scary and get less so as we go through.

The first and most scary is stress fracture of the tibia (main weight bearing bone in the leg below the knee). If this happens, get it looked at asap. Stop running. Let it heal. There really isnt much that massage can do for this in the acute phase- but in rebalancing and for remedial work- it may well be a useful modality to be using.

The second is almost as scary- its compartment syndrome. Basically the muscle on the front of your tibia (tibialis anterior) which is partially responsible for lifting your toe as you swing forward, and also helps prevent the collapse of the main arch in your foot) has got too big, there is too much blood in the muscle and it is the fact that it is swollen means that the pressure make it hurt. In this case there really isn't much massage can do, because massage is about getting blood flowing. The last thing you want is more blood going to an already engorged muscle that is causing you pain. You need to see a doctor. Its a bad thing.

Thankfully, these 2 are the least common forms of Shin Splints.
The most common by far is general pain in the Tibialis anterior - (again, its the muscle that helps lift your toe up as you swing your leg forward in the gait cycle). It could be because you have recently changed your shoes and are wearing heavier footwear - making the muscle work harder, it could be that you are attempting to run in flip-flops - (a BAD idea), it could also be an issue with your gait, that your arch is collapsing and this is causing undue elongation of the Tibialis Anterior, all of which are causing micro-tears in the muscle, slowly, over time, it gets more and more painful until you can barely run down the drive and back without the pain coming on.

An aside to this is that overtraining causes this syndrome as well - too much running and not enough rest means that the microtears in the muscle, which you induce by doing exercise in order to make the muscle better and more efficient, don't have the time to repair and make the muscle more efficient... they break, they break more, and more until eventually something has to give - and generally it's the pain that tells you that you've gone too far. REST is AS IMPORTANT as exercise.

Anyhow, back to treatment.
Ice, Compression and Elevation. And, most importantly of all, Rest. The problem being, that if you haven't rested as much as you should have done while training, you will need to compound that time now in order to relieve your pain. Not running when you are a runner is a bummer, and makes you restless and in some cases depressed. However, thinking that it feels a little better, and going out for a run is the WORST possible thing you can do. You'll be ok, then it will hurt, and then you'll be back to square 1 again, and it will take even longer to heal.

Massage - helping break down scar tissue in the muscle, assisting with the healing process, giving ideas as to remedial exercises that you can do, along with icing the affected areas for 15mins twice a day - that is what is going to bring you back from shin splints as fast as possible.

There are also a couple of things you can do in terms of taping techniques which will help reduce the pain. This can be useful if you HAVE to finish a race, or HAVE to run away from a tiger, however, it is only a stop gap, and should not be used as a replacement for rest etc. As such, I won't go into details here. 

If your car was broken, what would you do? Take it to a garage and pay money to get it sorted?
If your body is broken what do you do? Go online and look for answers, or go and get it looked and and healed properly?

You can buy another car.
You can't buy another body.
If its broke, see a pro and get it fixed!

Tim