5K: Week Nine

I extended the 8 week Hal Higdon training plan by a week so that I could run a slightly later race at the USNWC with my staff discount. My body is ready for this taper week before the race on Saturday.

Mon 3mi- It's been warm (in the mid 60's) for the past two days and the trails finally dried out enough to open. I ran the 3mi pink loop, which I believe will be the race rout, and was pleasantly surprised to find it felt rather short and easy. I probably should have stuck closer to the exact race rout posted on the website, but if I did run less than three miles I can't imagine it was much less. I felt like I was running rather slow. My quads and gluts are having a little trouble engaging again. The change in running shoes and form is working different muscles. I'm humbled and reminded I'm still just building mileage. Maybe it's good this race won't be timed. I'm running more slowly and timidly down hill than usual for me which may be causing some excess impact forces, slight runners knee, and tight hamstrings.

Tue 20min XT+strength- I was without a running car today so I took the road bike to the gym which took me about 6 minutes. I got lucky with the traffic light. I did a 15min bike in the gym because I figured the bike to and from the gym would make up for the 5min I didn't do on the stationary bike. I also did the lite weight circuit I've been doing in the gym. It's always nice to leave the gym with my muscles shaking a little. Reminds me that even though I don't feel I'm doing much it's maybe more than I think. I noticed a difference from skipping the weights in the previous week. Need to do more core.

Wed 2mi- Beautiful 70 degree day with a light misty rain. Was likely a brisker pace but It's my last training run before the race and I couldn't resist letting loose just a little bit. The imbalances in my legs seem to be evening out a bit. My mental attempts to monitor my supination is a little exhausting though.

Fri 15min easy- A little frustrated with myself. I should have run at work as soon as I got off but I had some other errands I needed to run and I lost the daylight. I decided I didn't want to run in the dark cold rain so I went to the gym. Running late, I only did 11 min on the very old elliptical machine which has a very unnatural running stride. I should have just run on the treadmill instead.

Sat Race!- I went in undecided about how to run the race. Do I run casually just to see how my body acts in a race scenario? Or am I in it to try win it. I eventually chose something in between. I knew that with an untimed race and a very muddy wet and rainy day anything could happen. I started toward the front of the starting line but tried to go out at my own pace and not get caught in race start adrenaline. I paced one guy and girl that passed me for about a half mile but I managed to kick it in a lot more that I'd anticipated I would, and I passed them and several other people to the finish to be- to my surprise- the second female over all. Yay! I had no idea. I was just climbing people during the whole race.  I am rather proud of myself that I didn't allow anyone to out pace and pass me over the net distance. My race time was something under 25min. Not fast but ok for where I am in my training now. I do feel bad I almost trampled a little guy trying to pass on a tight turn.  The race course was different than I'd expected- more on the service roads than single track trails but I think it made it a little better- easier to pass people. I seem to be better mentally prepared for racing than last year when I ran the Frigid 5k.

I'd like some arch support when not running. I'm trying putting arch supports in a pair of my minimalist racing flats from high school. The arch supports don't seem to be too much since the shoes are flexy. I'm hoping they'll allow my feet to get stronger and move as there supposed to. I like the combination so far but I feel like wearing these for more than one day in a row doesn't work. I wobble a little funny when I walk and have to think about using my feet the right way.

What is underpronation?

I grew up with a mother who worked on her feet a lot. And as many of us who work on our feet know, it can make them complain. Over her career my mother tried to keep her feet happy and went the rout of arch supports, insoles, etc. Growing up I thought of my mom as all knowing- kind of like this song from Disney's Tangled: Mother Knows Best. I love you Mom, you did teach me what you knew and thought was right.

But, because she believed arch supports and insoles where so important so did I. And because having good shoes is one of the key parts of running, I took arch supporting to the extreme with stabilizing pronation control shoes with added stiff cork high arch supports inside. This is what I ran on for years- from my freshman year track season in high school to my sophomore year of college at least. I'm discovering now that in my attempt to preemptively prevent injuries I may have caused some- possibly some of my achillies tendinopathy, and certainly my sprained ankles, because I land so far on the outside of my foot. I have forced my feet to change from neutral or possibly very slight over pronation (which probably would have improved on its own as I got stronger in running) to, at times, extreme supination or under pronation.


So, is there a right amount of pronation? There certainly is something to strive for. Your feet affect the use of joints and muscles as well as the impact on the rest of your body. Therefore normal pronation, which perhaps should be called ideal pronation, is an important part of an efficient runner's form.

Pronation is the inward rolling movement of the foot as it supports your body weight and absorbs shock. Ideally for normal pronation the arch should only roll, or compress, about fifteen percent in order to help you push off evenly from the front of the foot. The size of a runner's arch can affect its ability to roll. If you have a "normal arch" (indicated in the picture above), you're likely a normal pronator.

I definitely do believe that arch supports have a valuable place in low activity footwear for walking. And I wont deny that my feet feel so much happier when I put on my high arch supporting Birkenstocks. But, I think for now I'm gunna let my feet do what they want to while running, without the extra support. There's got to be a way to work with your feet instead of against them. Our body and feet have evolved over thousands of years, and humans where running long before high-tech shoes where invented. I'm not completely a minimal forefoot running convert. I don't know if my lower legs could handle it after all I have forced them to do over the course of approximately six years. But the research I've done on this topic suggests that as long as I make some transitions slowly I can become a healthier, less ridged and more efficient runner.

For an awesome article on foot mechanics, see this article by the British Journal of Sports Medicine brought to my attention by a Facebook post from my mother today. Thanks Ma! It uses a lot of scientific jargon but it's an informative read about the differences between running and walking and the roll the arch of our foot plays in our evolution. The article suggests foot exercises and addresses the barefoot minimalist shoes idea.

So, what is under pronation?

I found this really awesome RW video HERE.  It seems kind of crazy to me, to watch this video and notice that the runners muscle development is shaped so much like mine. Imagine that, foot strike shapes muscle formation! Click the link to read the full length article. It describes all styles of pronation and, by reading you can determine your own pronation type too!


I bought my last pair of shoes right after moving to Charlotte. That was a year an a half ago! While I haven't done any long term training plan in them, I have been a recreational runner averaging probably 1-2 runs a week over that time in them. Getting new shoes was long overdue. I've heard shoes should last up to 6 months or 500 miles. I'm certain I've exceeded both of those marks.

Inside of the fore foot doesn't touch the ground anymore

Wear is more noticeable along the outside edges

Each foot/shoe supinates differently

Choosing a pair of new shoes recently was very stressful for me. I discovered there are actually shoes made for people who supinate. Duh, there's a product for everything. But I had to decide how to choose shoes to aid in my transition to a more natural running gait.

Attributes of stability control shoes I'm trying to steer away from:

• Stability shoes have a thick ridged foam or plastic piece as part of the shoes sole under the arch of your foot. It prevents the inside part of the shoe from compressing over the use of the shoe and it holds up the arch to prevent over pronation. 
• Varying degrees of stability shoes are meant to have the runner heel strike. They have an angle cut into the outside edge of the heel intended to help your foot track through each foot strike, from the outside of your heel through to the middle toe at push off.
• Due to stability and motion control properties of these shoes your foot may not be able to bend and flex as it naturally should because the shoe is inflexible.
• Because stability shoes are intended for the runners wearing them to be heel strikers there is often a LOT of padding under the heel which causes the shoes to almost be like high heels. The idea is that having a higher heel will take strain off the achillies and calves. But this is not the natural evolutionary intent for our running form.

How do I transition slowly enough to prevent fatigue or injury from my body getting used to less structure in my shoes? How do I choose a shoe that will hold up to the mileage I plan to put in them between now and September when I run the half marathon? When buying my newest pair of running shoes last week, I struggled with deciding how light and flexible, how soft and squishy, how low the heel drop (diff in height between ball of foot and heel in sole thickness), and how neutral to go.

I ended up choosing an Asics gell-evate 2. The brand Asics is now slightly scary to me because that's what I have been wearing for most of my running career. I have a negative association with the brand and the over compensating I've been doing. But these shoes are neutral, even slightly supination minded shoes. I will not put my stiff cork insoles in them and we'll see what my foot does naturally. These Asics shoes are not as flexible or squishy as I'd hoped, nor do they have a lower heel drop but, I felt that they would be more durable than some of the other soft foam easy flexing shoes that I tried on. These shoes are a small step in the right direction and I'll meet more of the natural foot movement enabling criteria with my next pair. Hopefully a fresh start will reduce imbalances.