Run to Win

The 2^nd annual Maine Coach and Athlete Cross Country Clinic was on August 18th, 2008 at the University of Southern Maine. This is the third part of my reporting on the clinic; the first part was about injury prevention and treatment and the second part was about nutrition basics and fueling. This part covers foot and biomechanical structure and the selection of proper footwear.

Selecting Proper Footwear

The third presentation of the night was from the owner of the Maine Running Company, John Rogers. John’s career in the running business started in product development for Nike and Mizuno, but he retired from doing that to start a specialty running store here in Southern Maine about 4 years ago.

“We try to find the right shoe for people.”

John and his employees use a 6 step fitting process to make sure that they are getting fitted with the proper shoes when they come into the store.

The 6 steps consist of determining information about the runner and his or her running habits, as well as some specific tests to help them determine what each athlete needs.

This 6 step process includes:
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In a continuing collaboration with Scott over at Straight to the Bar, we will be writing about the technology of fitness equipment throughout the month of July. This week I would like to discuss the most important technology that a runner will deal with: running shoes.

• Why do runners buy shoes specifically for running?

  Running shoes and shoes that are made specifically for different sports such as basketball or cycling tend to have different shapes that cater to the specific activity that they are made for. Different types of motion put different stresses on your foot and ankles, and these are accounted for in the design of specific shoes.

  For example, cycling shoes tend to have a rigid bottom that is not particularly comfortable to walk around in but provide for a much more efficient transfer of energy from the foot to the pedal. Basketball shoes provide support for the ankle to account for making hard cuts and frequent jumping.

  While not always 100% necessary, getting a shoe for a specific sport can provide performance and/or safety benefits. Even amongst just running shoes, there are 8 categories of running shoes depending upon the type of running that you plan on doing.

• Why don’t runners walk around in their running shoes all day?

  Just like tennis is different from basketball, running and walking are very different activities from a physiological standpoint. Shoes that are designed for each activity try to minimize the stress of each activity and provide the most comfort at the same time.

  Wearing your running shoes while you walk or your walking shoes while you run can lead to discomfort and can drastically shorten the lifespan of your shoes.

• What is the difference between walking and running?

  When humans walk, they tend to push off to the side with their feet and sway back and forth. Walking is a way of controlled falling, as you shift your center of gravity over the leg that is going to support your body. The motion of your foot as you walk is a slow roll onto your toes.

  Running tends to keep your center of gravity more or less central to your torso as you swing your legs along beneath you. This is more energy efficient than walking, but increases the impact when your feet hit the ground. Running causes pronation, which results from your foot striking on the outside of your heel and then rolling towards the inside of your foot.

• What is most important when choosing a running shoe?

  Running shoes were originally made of leather. They did not begin to incorporate rubber until after sneakers started to become popular because the rubber was too soft and would wear away too fast for a serious athlete.

  Adi Dassler (the founder of Adidas) created the first lightweight running shoes in the 1930s, but it was not until the 1960’s that New Balance began putting a rubber wedge between the sole of the shoe and the upper portion to raise the heel and minimize the stress on the Achilles tendon. Bill Bowerman began making shoes for his runners by using a nylon upper and a sole created by pouring polyurethane into his wife’s waffle iron.

  The secret to the success of Bowerman’s shoes were the midsole that he put into the shoes to provide extra cushioning. The midsole provides protection from being able to feel sharp or hard objects that the runner steps on, and absorbs the majority of the impact that is the trade-off for a more energy efficient form of movement than walking. The midsole also provides rebound for the foot to make the next step a little easier. By fiddling with the density of the midsole in different areas of the shoe, and by contouring the foot bed, manufacturers design shoes that fit runners of different sizes and gaits.

• What are midsoles made of?

  Most midsoles are made of EVA, polyurethane, or a combination of the two.

  EVA makes a great cushioning material and is very light and very flexible, but it tends to lose some of its rebound and resilience and becomes “compression set.” That is one of the major reasons that you should always rotate your running shoes between runs.

  Polyurethane is very strong and lasts a lot longer, but it is heavy and has less rebound than EVA. Shoes with an all polyurethane midsole are almost guaranteed to last a long time, both because of their resilience and because they will probably not be worn as often as they are likely to be too heavy for most runners.

  Most companies combine the two materials by putting the polyurethane in areas of the midsole that are put under the most stress and using EVA elsewhere. Different mixtures are the biggest separating feature between one brand of shoes and the next. What is comfortable and works for one person is also quite likely to be uncomfortable for their neighbor, so each brand of shoes can potentially have plenty of market share.

• How do I best choose or take care of my running shoes?

  If you don’t know more about running shoes than you thought that you needed to by now, then you can look through my list of shoe care tips that was published on this site about a year ago.

• What is the shelf life for running shoes?

  Shoes don’t last forever, but unless the shoes weren’t stored well (extreme heat/cold) then last year’s models will be fine. You should generally try not to purchase shoes that are more than a year old, because the mid-soles will harden and break down over time even when the shoes are not being used.

  If you do have shoes that are 3 or even 5 years old, you can probably still use them. Just be aware that you probably will not be able to run as many miles in them as you would on a pair of brand new shoes that just arrived at your local shoe store.

  It can be a delicate balance of cost-effectiveness if you want to purchase a model of shoe that you like while it is on sale and before the company tweaks it to the point that you don’t like it anymore. (Thanks to Tom in Maryland for the question.)

What have I missed? These are a few questions that I have seen floating around in various forums or that have been emailed to me or asked in person over the past few months. Is there anything else that you would like to know that was not covered by this article or by the list of tips that were previously published?

Feel free to email me or leave a comment with any thoughts or questions that you may still have.

What are the best shoes to wear when racing down hill? That was the topic of the evening while on my group run tonight. One of the gentlemen I ran with tonight, Peter Buchanan of Edinburgh, is running the Mount Everest Marathon, which has a net loss of almost 6000 feet from start to finish. It has to be the ultimate in downhill racing, with steep drops and very rough terrain, all at altitude. It takes the runners almost a month to get acclimated to the altitude before the start of the race.

We did not come to a consensus on what we thought would best serve his feet during the marathon. Our best guess was that he should get some trail shoes custom made that were tight in the heel but long in the toe. What suggestions would you have? I have to admit that my down hill racing has been a bit limited, and I have not done any real trail racing for years.

The Nike+ shoes that integrate with a runner’s iPod are about to become much more widely available. In an article discussing the upcoming future for Nike and it’s financial stability, there was a remark from Nike President and Chief Executive Mark Parker about the future of their running shoes.

The company wouldn’t disclose everything that’s coming but hinted at changes from Nike Shox and in apparel. Nike did say it plans to make all its running shoes compatible with its Nike+ technology by the end of the year. Nike+ allows runners to track their workouts with Apple Inc.’s iPod. “I think there is a real renewed sort of energy and focus around product,” Parker said.

While this is good news for the folks that have an iPod and haven’t wanted to spend the extra $50 on shoes that could use the Nike+ system (and who did not want to find their own way of attaching the sensor to their shoe), I tend to worry a little about it. I have little to no interest in personally using the product, as I have zero interest in purchasing an iPod. What I do have an interest in is maintaining the quality of the shoes without making allowances and adding weight for features that I don’t need. What I also have an interest in is maintaining the affordability of my shoes and not having extra fees tacked on for those features that I’ll be ignoring.

(Sources: Boston.com - Gizmodo)

One thing that I have been asked a few times is how many pairs of shoes somebody needs to consider themselves a runner. A more frequent question is how many pairs of running shoes do I own. There is no one easy answer to this, and the answer depends slightly on how you train or how competitive you are.

The easy answer to how many shoes you need to be a runner is that you do not need any. Training barefoot is certainly a viable option, and experienced barefoot runners tend to have stronger feet and are less injury prone than us shoe users. The problem, however, is that we start wearing shoes when we are very little, and you need to go into the barefoot mode slowly and carefully. Your feet will be weak due to letting your shoes do most of the work of walking around all day, and running barefoot asks a different stride of us that you may not be used to.

Realistically, though, the minimal answer is one pair of shoes. Most of us will want to wear shoes, and if you are competitive there are certainly advantages to wearing shoes in races. For a casual runner, one pair of shoes will get you out on the roads and can serve you when you are racing.

A more competitive runner, though, is going to want at least two pairs of shoes, and more likely three. It is important to rotate your training shoes between each run if you run more than once a day or more than one day in a row. Your feet will sweat, and you really want your shoes to dry completely before wearing them for another run. A competitive runner may also want to have a pair of racing shoes, whether they are lightweight trainers or full on waffles or spikes.
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If you act fast, then you can get Asics GT2110 running shoes for $30.49 from The Sports Authority website.

Order the Men’s Asics GT2110 sports shoe or the Women’s Asics GT2110, and apply coupon code NOVFF25 to your order. That will take 25% off of any single item. I believe that this coupon expires after today, December 3^rd, but I am not positive about that. If you then pay using Google Checkout, you will get an additional $10 off of your order. Shipping and Handling is free. The total for a new pair of Asics GT2110 shoes is then $30.49.

You can also apply the same code and Google Checkout to the women’s ASICS GEL 1110 Stability Running Shoe to the final tune of around $23, but I have never used that model.

I am a big fan of the Asics 2040+ series of shoes, and have used them for a long time. I recently retired my last pair because I can get Nike shoes so much cheaper now with my team sponsorship, but this was too good of a deal to pass up on a shoe that I would still love to run in. I will say, however, that I have not had a lot of luck in the past when Sports Authority has these types of sales, so I imagine that this bargain will end very soon.

(Source: Slick Deals)

Update: It is about 4 hours later (and on a Sunday!) and I have already received an out of stock email. They state that they are still going to ship the item to me and will charge me when it is in stock, but I will believe that when I have the shoes in hand. My guess is that once again I will be missing out on the deal.

Update 2: I did in fact receive the shoes, which was a pleasant surprise. This deal is no longer available, so I have removed all of the links as they are no longer valid and didn’t point to anything any more.

It does not seem like a complicated thing to tie your shoes. A simple bow tie is all it takes, right? For everyday use, that is all you need. For running, it just is not enough. I’ll show you how to tie your shoes so that you never have to worry about a knot that won’t come out or a shoe lace that always comes untied.

You could run for 3 or 4 years and never have a problem, but that first time you will still curse your shoes out. A regular bow tie can easily come undone, which leads to an unsafe situation. If your shoes are not tied, then your foot will move around a lot more inside the sneaker. This will only gets worse as the laces loosen more with each step that you take. You also run the risk of stepping on your laces, having somebody else step on your laces, or getting your laces caught in your environment somewhere. This tends to lead to falling down, which is a good thing to avoid.
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Over the past week I had a series of posts about the care and maintenance of running shoes. In case you missed any of them, they were:

1. The Care and Maintenance of Running Shoes
2. Keep your shoes dry but not near heat
3. Keep your shoes dry by pulling the insoles out
4. Remove rocks and mud from your shoes after your run
5. What should you do if your shoes are sopping wet?
6. Rotating your shoes can prevent injuries and prolong shoe life
7. Label your shoes to avoid mixing and matching
8. When choosing shoes, seek the help of an expert
9. The Eight Categories of Shoes
10. When you find shoes that work for you, stick with them
11. Replacing your insoles can really help you…or really hurt you
12. How to make sure your shoes fit correctly when you buy them

Now that I am back from my honeymoon, regularly scheduled features will be back starting tomorrow. I hope that this series was helpful to anybody that followed it, and that everyone found at least one tip that they wanted to start using.