Sport Today

Thanks

Learning to run gracefully is the name of the game, no matter what the shoe.

Check out Miles Lakin's Running Form FAQ:

http://www.cermav.cnrs.fr/home_pages/lakin/run_form.html

Find a shoe that is comfortable and gives you the support...and cushion you
need.  I prefer minimal cushion, so that I can practice running lightly and
get the feedback which I can't get if there's so much cushion, that it
doesn't help me but masks my heavy running.

--
In health and on the run,
Ozzie Gontang
Maintainer - rec.running FAQ
Director, San Diego Marathon Clinic, est. 1975
(Mindful Running) http://www.mindfulness.com

: I have also heard good things about Brooks Beast, but have never tried them.

I've had really good luck with Brooks, in general -- there definitely are
some shoes that feel better to me (a filly, for sure).  Right now I'm
running in Asics 2030s, though, which have also been good for me.

cindy

Brooks Beast are great!  My husband is
240 at 6' and looks like a defensive end.
He did 4 marathons in 1 year using
Brooks Beast.  Best part, they're on sale
now at http://www.roadrunnersports.com/roadrunner/default.asp

Good luck!

I run in the shoes which give the least amount of cushion to remind me to
run lightly.  I don't wear slip lasted shoes rather straight lasted shoes
to diminish overpronation.  A problem from prerunning years of walking
splay footed.

I'm back to the issue that landing midsole or ball heel is the name of the
running form that has been neglected in teaching running to the average joe
and jane jogger.  But what the hay, the podiatrists, chiropractors,
physical therapists, orthopedic surgeons, exercise physiologists, and all
those with a vested interest in having running injuries don't have time to
look at the form or help people improve their form as they are too busy
with dealing with all the injuries.    Anyway check out the article in
Miles Lakin's Running Form FAQ:
http://SportToday.org/
to hear what some coaches had to say before the shoe industry became the
mult-billion dollar business it is.

I figure that by 2000 I'll have written my electronic/tree destroying
versions of teaching running form...to help people reclaim a thinking body
approach to running smoothly and lightly like we can because of the animals
we are...or I'll go for a run and quietly fade away.

For the time being, I'll keep attempting to be the exception to the rule
along with a number of the other regulars on rec.running in sharing a
perspective that landing on the back of the heel while running is an
overstride and detrimental to one's overall health and well being...but a
great boon to those who assist injured runners...and running shoe companies
which focus on the latest and greatest technology and neglect the reality
that Tarahamara Indians, the kids growing up in Kenya who later became
world class runners...ran barefoot for many years...and often wear the
shoes they do because of the endor***ts...and that Abebe Bakila won the
1960 marathon in Rome in around 2:16...having taken off his shoes from
Adidas at mile 2 or 3 because they hurt...and ran the streets and
cobblestoned roads barefoot the rest of the way.

Anyway, thanks for memories of leaner/meaner Oz...who remains a legend in
his own mind....

--
In health and on the run,
Ozzie Gontang
Maintainer - rec.running FAQ
Director, San Diego Marathon Clinic, est. 1975
(Mindful Running) http://SportToday.org/

The shoe can do two things for you: add cushioning and correct
biomechanics.  We are not all Abebes, Laroupes, or (evidently) Ozs
(Ozes?).  Some of us need help.  This doesn't mean that we shouldn't
strive to be as efficient as possible, just that there are limits to
what some of us can do with a proper stride length/cadence, knee lift,
etc....

If I let my right foot hang in a neutral position, it's supinated about
30 degrees.  So with each step, my foot pronates to compensate, which
causes rotation of my leg that I feel in my knee, hip, and back.  The
right shoe helps compensate.

My feet do not flex.  At all.  Cushioning is a must if I'm to run
anywhere but on beaches or soft dirt paths.

I'd agree that if you land first on your heels you are ususally
overstriding (or have an incredibly flexible foot).  However, unless you
are running fast, your heel lands soon after the forefoot, and so
cushion and biomechanical aids for the heel are important.  You just
can't expect them to compensate for the problems caused by
overstriding.  

So without shoes, I can't run.  Without proper form, I can't run for
long.  Both matter a lot.
--
-Ray Charbonneau
The MITRE Corporation

(BTW, I assume over-pronation means rolling the foot so the inward side rolls
down too far?)

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Dave Morgenlender

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