Hi I'm Lucy MacDonald physiotherapist and today I'm going to talk to you about
running shoes, so how do you know what type of shoe is gonna work for you, how
do you know when you're supposed to change your shoes, how many pairs should
you have throughout your marathon training and all these really common
questions that I'm asked all the time. So first things first, what type of shoe. Now
for the vast majority of runners a neutral shoe is going to be what you
need. This is a neutral shoe. There are many many different brands on the market
you don't have to go for the most expensive one. A decent running brand is
advisable but it's not entirely essential and you can get some good
bargains and things online, however, you absolutely should be trying on shoes
before you purchase them, so the most important, this is the first thing, the
most important thing about a running shoe is that it should be comfortable which sounds
really obvious but we can get really het-up with all the different
bio-mechanical things about running shoes but ultimately the shoe needs to be
comfortable and that's because if you've got a really comfortable shoe you're
more likely to get feedback from your foot, a connection between your
foot and your brain so something called that we call proprioception, which is
your body's positional sense and it is one of the biggest indicators for injury,
so if you've got lovely comfortable shoes that fit you really well then
that's gonna help your proprioception and therefore reduce your chances of injury so
as I say most people suit a neutral running shoe, not an anti-pronation shoe
or the other end of the spectrum, a shoe with zero support like a barefoot
running shoes, for some people those shoes are appropriate for example if you
a bigger heavier runner and you do have excessive, truly have excessive
overpronation than an anti-pronation shoe is for you, but they are vastly
over-prescribed, so if you have been told you need an anti-pronation shoe can you
get in touch with me and I'll just check a few things and with you first. The
other end of the spectrum is a shoe with no support, which is like a barefoot
running shoe and if you're already running in barefoot running shoes and
you're finding them really comfortable then that's fantastic news. Generally
they're better for higher-level runners, so again if you're thinking of
transitioning into those shoes then please please get in touch with me
before you do and as I say transitions the key is is to slowly reduce the
amount of support that your shoes are providing, not to suddenly go from a
normal neutral running shoe to straight into barefoot running. That does work for
some people, some people in those situations write books and go crazy on
social media but for a lot of people that can actually cause injury so just
be a little bit careful if you're thinking of doing that. Right so back to
your nice neutral shoe, doesn't need to be this particular brand, as I say what
you're going to look at is a few of the key components to a decent running shoe and
you'll notice that they all have a bit of a heel raise and that's very helpful
to aid your running biomechanics and also they have more support in the
middle of the foot than they do at the front, so you can see that it kind of
ramps down into just where your big toe is, and what that means is that when
you put pressure, I'm going to put pressure through the back and the front
of the shoe, it should bend over your big toe joint and that is a sign of a nice
healthy shoe so if you want to work out whether you need to change your shoes or
not that is a really nice test and presuming that they're not stability or
anti-pronation shoes but for a neutral shoe that is a really nice test so it
should flex right over your big toe and then if I continue to push it will flex
further up the foot as well. So you will find that on average you
will need at least two pairs of running trainers and it is really good to try
and get your running trainers, two pairs of running trainers right at the beginning
of your training so then you alternate shoes throughout the training
you certainly don't want to be waiting until two weeks before the marathon and
getting a new pair of shoes for the obvious fact that when you have a new
pair of shoes you're more predisposed to blisters and things like that and so
two pairs of shoes throughout the whole marathon at least. If you're doing a lot
of training in mud, water and particularly if you're training by the sea
so if your shoes are exposed to salt water then you're really gonna need more
pairs than that. But I hope that is helpful, by all means do get in touch if
you would like further information. The best way to contact me is by email
lucymacdonaldphysio@hotmail.co.uk or securely lucy@octopusclinic.com
You can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube and I
would love to hear what you'd like me to talk about next, so please do get
in touch, and in the meantime, happy running!