I have a love, hate relationship with running. I love to run. Running hates my body. It seems that injures are just par for the course in my relationship with running. Two Sundays ago I ran 10 miles and during the last 2, my achilles began to ache. Rather than stop and walk, I finished my run. This would result in a week long rest from running, followed by a 3 mile run the following Sunday instead to the Bronx 10 miler as planned. My achilles was not much better after that run, so I rested until the following Saturday. Another 3 miler resulted in more pain. I took off a few more days and finally on Tuesday I ran a glorious 5 miles with no achilles pain and no resulting soreness.
What changed???
My sneakers.
From left to right: Mizuno, Saucony Kinvara, Altra Provisioness
I had been wearing the Saucony since I got them at Fitblog NYC in May. I wore them for the Brooklyn Half and the Virginia Beach Half, both races were successful in the fact that I finished without any pain. After the Virginia Beach Half I decided to take a break from the Saucony and run in the Mizuno. These runs resulted in increased knee pain and the eventual achilles pain. A couple of weeks ago I received the Altra Provisioness to try out thanks to Altra. I am currently attempting to transition to these sneakers, but wearing them has increased my achilles pain. This led me back to the Saucony.
My five mile run on Tuesday was in the Saucony. I had an awesome run and nothing hurt.
It is looking like these will be the sneakers that I will be running in during the Runner’s World Half Marathon Hat Trick.
Right now I plan to stick to what works and that is the Saucony. I will be continuing to transition to the Atra Provisioness, but I don’t think I will be ready to where the to Runner’s World.
The difference is in the sneakers. If you are frequently getting injured or having pain while running, it would be wise to take a look of what is on your feet, trust me, it makes a difference.
What are your favorite running sneakers and why??
Toni – this is something that I strongly believe in. Running shoes do make a difference in how you run and how you feel during a run or after. If you run in ones that do not work for you – no matter what the brand is – you will quickly know it. Your body will let you know with aches and pains.
Lower drop or zero drop shoes do initially bother your Achilles more than the higher drop shoes, so it takes time to lengthen out the Achilles. When I moved to zero drop it took longer than I thought it would. When I injured my Achilles I went back to a more typical running shoe and didn’t like it and found my sweet spot to be in the 4-6mm drop.
Right now I am loving my Skechers GoRun Ride2’s for road running. They just work for me, the right amount of cushioning and feel that have allowed me to really ramp up my mileage and pace over the last month.
Good luck and remember, comfort and fit is more important than brand name and drop. What works for you, works for you. It is nice to experiment, lord knows I have done more than my share over the past couple of years, but when you find the “right” shoe for you, you know it very quickly.
Just don’t try to force a shoe to be the “right” shoe for you, just because of other factors.
Harold recently posted..First Chilly Run — RunLog 10-9-13
Thanks Harold!!! My Saucony’s have a 4mm drop and they are great, I am hoping to transition to the zero drop, but only time will tell if they work for me.
My favorite are Mizunos. I used to wear Asics, but when I finally went to a running store and had them check how I walked/ran, etc they told me they weren’t right for me. I’ve only ever bought Mizunos since then because I love how deep the heel is and how my feet feel running in them. I can definitely tell when it’s time for a new pair though. I’ve never tried a different shoe because I’ve never tried anything else on in the store (and they’ve given me lots to try) that felt right before ever running in them, so why would I, you know? There might be something else out there, but they’re so expensive I don’t really want to play a guessing game. 🙂
Courtney @ Don’t Blink. Just Run. recently posted..Exciting Stuff
If it works I say stick with it, if they don’t give you problems why would you change???
I absolutely agree, and speaking from experience I think your running style usually dictates what type of running shoes you should use. After using certain running shoes I developed shin splints, let’s just say I haven’t used them since lol 🙂