Flat feet...

RunGuy17 wrote:

I was just wondering how flat feet hinder your running. I have had flat feet all my life...insanely flat feet...and they've never really given me problems.

Same here. I have absolutely not arch whatsoever.

I too wonder exactly *how* flat feet are supposed to adversely affect running. My guess is that a normal arch provides some shock absportion, which would be beneficial for a couple of reasons: (1) the energy return makes one more efficient; and (2) the shock absorption would allow one to withstand a higher volume of training.

I have notice that, despite being relatively light (5'11", 145), I break down pretty quickly once I get above 50 miles per week. I have no idea if this is related to my very flat feet.

-Brent

I too have very flat feet and I'm 5'8" and 150 lbs. The only bad things that I have ever had as a result are that I break down shoes very quickly, and everytime I go to the doctor's office they tell me I shouldn't run much and I should get orthodics. I run in the NB 587's and they are the only shoes that seem to last for me, everything else falls apart. I've never had any injury problems resulting from my feet, never had shin splints or any lower leg problems, etc.

I have ridiculously flat feet -one is actually so flat that a doctor told me it looked like I walked over a land mine! Anyway I have been fairly successful at running but I tend have alot of injuries although many were probably not related to my feet. I just have to be very very careful. I can't wear spikes hardly ever unless my feet are taped up so I race in flats and I have to wear my orhthotics to race and train - I cannot run a step without them. Oddly though I cannot wear heavy motion control shoes even though everyone always says they are for flat footed runners. I run in moderate stability and am fine. Despite the flat feet I have an efficient stride and am light so maybe that's why. I advise you to stop listening to doctors -they all tell me it's unbelievable I can run at all and that I should swim or something. But the way I look at it, there are athletes out there who have overcome alot worse than flat feet -try cancer, birth defects, serious injury, etc.. So I just appreciate the fact that I can run and try not to look at it as an obstacle because I'm sure there are very good runners who have overcome much worse.

I too have very flat feet. They have never given me any problems. It is funny (and cool) how God gives us different features...but somehow they all work together with our particular running form or gait. I have found over my 10 plus years of running to "Not Mess" with it. Stability shoes seem to work best (like Nike Air Stucture Triax).

Because of them (low arches), I have a louder foot plant than most...I can't sneak up on anybody in a race....but so far, i have never had any knee, joint, or shin type problems. (maybe the impact of the weight is more evenly distributed causing less injuries....ha!) Just be thankful for what you got and run on!

the idea of correcting flat feet is based on the theory that as your arch collapses so does your ankle. This therefore, throws your knees and hips out of alinment possibly causing injury. But, some people will argue this theory especcially the minimalist on this board. The majority of people with low arches can benefit from a moderate stabilty shoe.

Don't worry about me listening to doctors when they tell me not to run much. I just laugh and go about my business of getting the miles in.

This is all good info to hear for me. I've been a runner off and on for 10 years now, but I just recently found out that my feet were really really flat. Go freaking figure. I'm really light and the lady selling me shoes swore I needed something like the Brooks Beast which is a high end Motion Control shoe. I may try it next time, but so far a good stability shoe with some motion control features has worked fine.

para

there have been some very good "flat footed" runners that i have seen.

Lynn Williams 4:03 1500m had horrible feet.

she certainly didnt make any excuses for not being any faster.

flat feet are fine -- look at the Ethiopians and Kenyans -- I'll bet you'll see feet flat as pancakes.

Shoes are the problem. If you pronate to a noticable degree and are on tall soft shoe, your natural pronation (which is good) will compress the inside of the shoe, while the outside stays uncompressed which then causes the shoe to cause your leg to turn inward. There are two choices: either reinforce the inside with denser materials so that it does not compress to the same degree... or cut the shoe thinner so that there is less amterial to compress and less height off the ground off of which to roll.

But even beyond that, someone who simply looks at your flat feet and says, "This is what you need..." is not doing a good job. They need to watch you run in every shoe you try to see how it is affecting your footstrike. I ahd a guy in yesterday, his foot was completely flat to the ground. I took out a few shoes, he went home with the Zoom Miler -- it fit him well and was not causing overpronation.

Shoe people need to get the classification "over-pronator" out of their head -- no normal human pronates to an unhealthy or unnatural degree. There's nothing wrong with you your foot is designed -- shoes are poorly designed.