I’ve spent the last 10+ years running in 12mm heel-toe offset shoes, primarily Mizuno Wave Riders and Brooks Ghosts since those are the last on the market with a 12mm offset. I have a history of Achilles issues, which is a reason I’ve kept the high offset. A lot of the racing shoes on the market are in the 8mm or lower range. Will I shred my Achilles by making the switch? I’m looking for a little more speed on race days, without causing more injury issues.
Thanks,
Adam
Give it a try and stretch more is the only advice I could give you. I have the same issue. I train in high offset shoes with inserts, but race in Nike or saucony super shoes, including marathons. I do fine, but have to swap some run days for the bike when my tendons act up. Heel raises help a lot too.
You will not notice a huge difference between 12mm and 8mm. It’s once you get down to 5-6mm that you start to notice the difference, and even more so down to 3-4mm.
My recommendation - if you’re worried, find a shoe at 10mm and use it to transition more smoothly from 12mm to 8mm. I also recommend rotating the new shoes in slowly. First week, use them for 25%, next week 50%, next week 75%, then week 4 you’re fully into the new shoes. Stretching probably won’t help much. Foam rolling and massage gun on your calves and hamstrings will be a big help.
Lastly - work to address the root cause of the achilles issues. Tight calves, weak feet and ankles, weak hips, etc. You may find that spending 10-15min 2-3x/week will alleviate a lot of the root causes of your pain, and then you can run in whatever you want!
I’ve spent the last 10+ years running in 12mm heel-toe offset shoes, primarily Mizuno Wave Riders and Brooks Ghosts since those are the last on the market with a 12mm offset. I have a history of Achilles issues, which is a reason I’ve kept the high offset. A lot of the racing shoes on the market are in the 8mm or lower range. Will I shred my Achilles by making the switch? I’m looking for a little more speed on race days, without causing more injury issues.
Thanks,
Adam
I think it’s a good idea to have different shoes in your stable and rotate through them… 12mm drop, 8mm drop, 10mm drop, etc.
E
I think it’s a good idea to have different shoes in your stable and rotate through them… 12mm drop, 8mm drop, 10mm drop, etc.
E
This x 1000
Also ime working with hundreds of runners from world class to beginner 98% of people won’t notice a 2mm change and maybe 50% can feel the difference between two shoes that are separated by 4mm drop.
As others have mentioned: 1.) you probably wouldn’t notice much of a difference going between 12 and 8 mm, especially if you’re going to a shoe with a substantially similar amount of cushioning, and 2.) you should probably have a few shoes in the armada that alternate around in that 8-12 range.
For what it’s worth, I have a range of shoes from 2 to 12mm and don’t really have any issues.
I love it how I can count on Slowtwitch to help me justify adding more shoes to my collection. Looks like it is time to start mixing it up a bit!
I think it’s a good idea to have different shoes in your stable and rotate through them… 12mm drop, 8mm drop, 10mm drop, etc.
E
This x 1000
100% agreed.
To OP: Varying shoes you run in makes your tissues less one-dimensional. One-dimensional tissues are more injury prone.