Welcome back to the Hill, Ole women! I hope your summer was satisfactory in whichever way you chose to spend it, and that you at least found time out of your busy—or maybe even lazy—schedules to log in some hours of exercise. As for myself, I spent the first half of break bouncing between intermittent periods of fitness and some serious couch-potato-ing, but always progressively improving towards a regular routine and better eating habits by the latter half. It has taken me twenty years to say this, and, approaching the first anniversary of this blog, I find it most fitting to announce that I officially LOVE running.
This revelation hit me when I ran five miles in one go for the first time in my life, in perfect weather, watching the beautiful sunset over the Minnesota landscape, listening to my favorite music and taking the chance to be alone with my thoughts. Adrenaline! Endorphins! It was awesome. I couldn’t wait to go for another run just like it. And then the shin splints returned with a vengeance.
Let me tell you, it is extremely frustrating to finally have the desire to run and then not be able to do so, even when your whole body feels great except for the stabbing pains in your legs. So it was back to the elliptical for me, which would have been unbearably dull without the Netflix app on my iPod.
During a family vacation, I was in the midst of one of my many complaints about my shin splints to my mother when a second cousin of mine asked me what kind of shoes I wear. Nike, of course. It’s the best, right? I mean, it’s Nike! As it turns out, Nike is the best…at marketing. My cousin explained to me how when she was around my age, she’d also had problems with shin splints, and Nike shoes were also her running accessory of choice. She went to her doctor and he explained to her the concept of pronation, which refers to the inward roll of your foot as it hits the ground. There is an ideal degree of pronation, and then there are degrees of pronation—overpronation and supination—that are less desirable for your legs when they absorb shock upon impact with the ground. Overpronation means that your foot rolls inward too much, while supination (or underpronation), means that your foot is rolling excessively outward.
My cousin then went to a running store where they observed her running on a treadmill and were able to find running shoes for her that would help to prevent further damage to her shins, a brand which she recommended to me called Brooks. She also had a conversation with a friend of hers who works for Nike and he told her that yes, Nike shoes are great for athletes who have them customized for their feet and great for the company when these athletes wear Nike shoes. But when it comes to the general consumer, they really aren’t more remarkable than other shoes. This isn’t to say that they are bad shoes; if they work for you, that’s great. But I know that I bought my Nikes because they were cute and they had that illustrious swoosh on the side, not because I particularly cared about how they would affect my feet and legs.
When I returned from my vacation, I did some serious research about pronation and good running shoes. I have normal pronation and a normal arch, for which stability shoes are recommended (there are also “neutral” and “cushioning” shoes for the other types of pronation). Curious about Brooks, I took a trip to Scheels sporting goods store and invested in the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 11 (with pretty purple laces and a sale tag!). It was voted the best running shoe of 2010, and in all seriousness, my shins were feeling better in a matter of days.
Thus, my second epiphany of the summer: the shoes you wear really do matter. If you want to go into research mode like me and learn more about pronation, this Livestrong.com article provides steps on how to determine the pronation of your feet. It also would be a good idea to determine the height of your arches. Runner’s World magazine also provides video demonstrations of the different types of pronation and gives recommendations of what you should look for in a running shoe depending on your stride and arch height. Some other good brands to look out for Saucony, ASICS, Mizuno, and New Balance. If you have problems of your own with shin splints, it’s also helpful to do small leg exercises and strength training. If you’re building up the smaller muscles in your legs, the larger muscles and your joints won’t have to compensate as much and hence you’ll have less pain.
For all of you runners out there, I highly recommend giving more consideration to the shoes that you buy, because it can make all the difference in how your body responds to your exercise.
Revised epiphany: I love running—pain free.