THANK GOD FOR ORTHOTICS

get right on the ground and you won't have any overpronation problems.

Orthotics are good at fixing a problem that a shoe causes. It's best to find a shoe that doesn't cause any problems.

And just be carefull about your IT and in the Omnis -- that cut out for the GRID unit can reall weaken the back part of the shoe and cause guys to really compress the outside heel.

I was getting injured six times a year, up and down my right leg: ankle, achilles, knee and hip. I've been running on my orthotics injury free for a year and doubled my mileage.

trackhead,

if you saw the amount of overpronation my ankle has in a simple weight bearing stance, such as standing, BAREFOOT, as well as the forefoot varus i have in a neutral stance, you may reconsider your position. that being said, i enjoy the discussions you posts seem to stimulate on this board.

concerning the heel of the omni, i land midfoot and as such the heel doesn't come into play except for going downhill.

trackhead wrote:

get right on the ground and you won't have any overpronation problems.

What does this mean? I also overpronate and wear orthotics.

Trackhead,

I work in a shoe store and I see a lot of people overpronating barefoot. I've read your posts before saying that no one overpronates barefoot, and that everyone's knee falls over their first two toes. I've seen many cases where that's not the case, and all those people didn't have defective biomechanics.

that is NOT true

if your forefoot or your rearfoot is not correct you will always overpronate running on the front of the foot can help in light cases but if you reallyhave some problem no minimalistic or barefoot running will change it.BUt also know overpronation will always result in problems it could be perfectly like with me i can live and run 20 km/week perfectly injury free in almost evey shoe but not when i run 40 km!And i did(still somethimes do some barefoot running but i do know that 30km is really a max without orthotics.

okay:

a) I do beleve that most people are fine

b) I believe that a lot are in bad shape because of weak feet

c) how do your feet compare to my friend's here:

http://www.geocities.com/r_daws22021/caroline1.jpg

(you'll have to copy the url into your browser)

Orthotics simply change "where" you distribute your stress. Thus, you'll go from having one set of injuries to having a whole new set of injuries somewhere else.

Interesting. I've been running for almost 20 years (started post college) and until this year I never had a lower leg or foot problem. Granted, for many years I only ran 30-40 MPW. A few years ago I had some ITB and/or PS problems, but it was manageable with strecthing. This year, however, the wheels have started to come off. My right foot is a bit flatter than my left and I pronate more on the right foot than the left. This spring I started to build my mileage up to 60-70 MPW while doing most of the running in lighter, flatter shoes. About a month ago I developed some pain in the right ankle. I initially thought it was the achilles, but now I see that the pain is really centered in the Tibilias-Posterior Tendon. The pronation and associated ITB weakness appears to be putting too much lateral stress on the T-P muscle and tendon. With rest and some strengthening exercises courtesy Mr Owen Anderson, the problem subsides for a while, but always returns when I ramp it back up. Right now I can't see making it to a marathon later this fall without either correcting the biomechanical problem that's causing the tendonitis or going the route of orthotics.

I'm not a big fan of orthotics. But I must admit I've never tried them. I'm trying to get seen by a sports medicine specialist, but that takes a little time in the military. The GPs are useless. They tell me to stop running and the problem will go away. The Doc I saw today told me I should think about switching to another sport, like water aerobics. No kidding.

I need a way out of this without quitting the sport.

i really suggest you to try orthotics but go to a specialist who also checks leg length foot type,chacks the forefoot,hip alignement if he doesnt do that he's bad.I have some messed up footbuild to.forefoot to flexible almost one cm leg length difference+arches that overpronate. just like you pain would come with miles.Now it is when my orthots arent good anymore but i could get them fixed anytime for free.

RunDaddy,

Regarding your tendinitis, I have been experiencing an identical injury. For a long time I thought my achilles synovitis was returning but upon self examination I found it was the Tibialis Posterior Tendon. I have been out for about three months (with only sporadic mileage) due to this tendon crap and the ITBS I developed shortly after trying to come back from the initial tendinits. Now, coming back from the ITBS (still not fully recovered) I have found that I have not rid myself of the achilles/TP tendon issues. My calf is tight too and I think that I still do have a touch of achilles injury as well. I don't even know where to begin with this. My plan is to run Twin Cities but I don't even know if I will be able to do it now. Can anyone help us? Oh the ITBS is in the same leg as the tendinitis (right) and I wear NB 900s.

we shall see...

Rundaddy,

Just happened upon this website:

http://www.podiatry.curtin.edu.au/encyclopedia/pt/

Maybe we can get help from the internet.

i can't post a photo but imagine if you looked down and saw your ankle bone hanging over the inside of your foot by about three quarters of an inch. that is how much i pronate simply standing. running, even more.

E wrote:

Rundaddy,

Just happened upon this website:

http://www.podiatry.curtin.edu.au/encyclopedia/pt/

Maybe we can get help from the internet.

E

Thanks for the link. I'll read with care.

RunDaddy

E wrote:

Rundaddy,

Just happened upon this website:

http://www.podiatry.curtin.edu.au/encyclopedia/pt/

Maybe we can get help from the internet.

The article was very good, although very technical and above my head in many regards. It does demonstrate how difficult it is to diagnose the exact problem and offer appropriate treatment & rehab. You really can't pay enough for a good sports Doc.

What I can't know at this point is if the pronation is causing the problem or if tendon damage from overuse is leading to a more pronated footstrike. I never considered myself to be a pronator and always ran in neutral shoes. About 6 weeks ago I was in my running store and the guy who runs the place watched me walk barefoot and said he thought my right foot was overpronating. I was shocked to hear this.

Unfortunately, I didn't read the article before I posted the link. I just noticed that there was a lot of information on the affliction and thought it might be of use... I apologize for the technical writing.

Anyway, where are you in your injury, Rundaddy? I know you mentioned that you are having a tough time getting it healed but have you gotten any help from any of the doctors (as I have some friends in the military I know how tough it can be to get a good doctor)? How about your ITBS? Is it in the same leg as the tendinitis like mine?

I just need any help from wherever I can get it. I have no health insurance so I can't really get good treatment from doctors or PTs. Doing this stuff on my own is really disheartening.

E wrote:

Anyway, where are you in your injury, Rundaddy? I know you mentioned that you are having a tough time getting it healed but have you gotten any help from any of the doctors (as I have some friends in the military I know how tough it can be to get a good doctor)? How about your ITBS? Is it in the same leg as the tendinitis like mine?

I just need any help from wherever I can get it. I have no health insurance so I can't really get good treatment from doctors or PTs. Doing this stuff on my own is really disheartening.

The tendonitis is a fairly new development. ITBS is in the same leg (right) and something I've dealt with on and off for four years. I've also had some Piriformis issues on the right side, especially when I start doing a fair amount of track work.

About 4 weeks ago I was doing a long run and I started to develop pain in my ankle at about mile 10 and it continued until I finished (15 miles). I stretched it and did some strengthening exercises. Then, for the next two weeks it really didn't bother me. I even did a pretty fast 14 miler on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend with no problem at all. On Saturday 4 June I raced a 5K in flats and had no problem. But, on Sunday morning when doing a quick 10 miler with a group here in town it started hurting at about mile 5, and by mile 8 it was killing me. Of course, being a complete dumbass I gutted it out and finished the run. but Sunday night i was hobbling around the house. By Tuesday the pain was gone and i tried a light run but it was hurting after only a few minutes, so I stopped and walked back. I didn't run on it again until this past Sunday. The first twenty minutes were fine but then it started to hurt and I had to stop at 33 minutes. It's clear there is a problem serious enough to require medical attention.

I have an appointment with the military's only sports med Doc in this region next Wednesday. He may order an MRI. Until then I'm just going to swim and do some water running. I really have high hopes of doing a half marathon this fall and a full marathon in December.

Sounds like you've been dealing with this a lot longer. Not having health insurance must suck. Try Owen Anderson's article on TPT (sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/027_03_tibialis_posterior_tendinitis). He has helped me in the past with other injuries. He always prescribes a simple approach to get to the root of the problem.

jaguar1 wrote:

Orthotics simply change "where" you distribute your stress. Thus, you'll go from having one set of injuries to having a whole new set of injuries somewhere else.

Not if they actually do their job (and they will if you go to a half-decent podiatrist). A proper orthotic will distribute pressure on your foot to where it should be if you had perfect biomechanics.