Preventing Running Pain

     The high for this weekend has the temperature set at 59 degrees which means only one thing: spring is finally upon us. With that being said, I imagine a lot of you will be lacing up your running shoes and hitting the streets for some miles on the road (I, myself, might be one of the many). But runner beware, injuries to the ankle, feet, and knee are at an all-time high and often times it comes from a lack of strength and stability and our footwear can be at fault for this!

     Over the last few decades there has been an influx of performance footwear. We have high tops, low tops, ankle taping, braces for the ankle or knee, different types of sleeves and the list can go on. On paper this seems like a great thing but our reliance on this has gotten a bit out of hand and could be the cause for many of our running related injuries. For example, let say we wear ankle braces as we run or exercise. This additional support and stability results in all but complete dismissal of mobility of the ankle joint. The lack of mobility prevents the ankle from doing its job of absorbing stress. But if the ankle is not absorbing stress what is? Hint: work upwards along the kinetic chain and what do you find? The knee joint. The primary function of our knee is to offer stability but the lack of ankle mobility forces the knee to take on a new role. This new role diminishes the knees ability to offer stability which will eventually lead to pain in, or around, the knee joint. And then we go out and look for knee supports to go with our ankle supports and next thing you know our hip is sore, or our back hurts and we look for the next band-aid solution instead of focusing on the real issue.

     As you experience some pain your goal should be to restore function to the weak link in the chain. When you do this, you allow the surrounding links in the chain to function as they should. A very simple way to do this is to remove your shoes during your warm-ups or lower body weight training sessions. A book titled Born to Run gives good insight on the benefits of barefoot training. I am not recommending running miles upon miles barefoot or with minimalist shoes. You will be cruising for a stress fracture if you do this. I am recommending going through some warm-ups or weight training sessions without shoes on. Why go barefoot? Our foot is one of the most intricate pieces in our body. It has 26 bones, 33 joints, 12 rubbery tendons, and 18 muscles. This opens the door for tons of injury opportunities, especially when we have deconditioned musculature in the foot. When we go barefoot we strengthen the foot. The foot is the first link in our kinetic chain. As previously written, if there is a weakness in one part of our chain it will effect the next link. And when we cushion our foot with these fancy new shoes, molds, or braces, we decondition our foot musculature. As running legend Arthur Lydiard once said, "When you support an area, it gets weaker. Use it extensively, it gets stronger". Remember this when you purchase your next pair of shoes. And to reiterate my previous warning, if you try to go barefoot or minimalist shoes without first building strength, you are cruising for a stress fracture! 

Enjoy the weather and hit the streets this weekend for some roadwork!

Chris Fluck