Here is the scoop…I walk like a duck!..in particular, my right foot is rotated out much more than my left…my left foot is rotated out slightly from a straight ahead path, and the right is dramatically more…This does not seem to cause me a problem when I run at slower paces (don’t ask the paces, because they are tortoise slow)…However, as I increase running speed, my right foot in particular tends to rotate in to be striking the ground more straight ahead…It is at this point that I have problems…I get what I perceived at first a a side stitch, but after doing many things to alleviate this nothing has worked…I will get this at a particular pace and about 1-2 miles into this pace…my right side, from the lower rib cage through my hip will start to hurt, and it will be sore for a couple of days afterwards…Now, after some PT for hammy that I blew up, I have come to realize, that it is the orientation of my feet while running and the movement of that orientation as my pace increases, that is stretching muscles and tendons that aren’t used (or stretched to this degree) during slower paced runs and walking…
My question is, how can I adapt these muscles/tendons to run faster longer without pain?..Do I need to just force my feet to go straight or what?..Any help is greatly appreciated…On a side note, I am also a heal striker, which one would expect with a duck gate…
You can do it, but how tough it might be may depend on other factors. It sounds like you may have a mild case of hip dysplasia (actually quite common). You’re born with hip sockets that are just not quite deep enough, or are slightly mis-shapen, and can result in things like what you mention. Like the hammy blowing up. I bet yer lower back and glutes are kinda wonky too eh?
Tell your GP about this, get a referrral to an Ortho and rule out any hip problems. Anything else may be a waste of time.
My hips have always given me problems (partially dislocated one in 95 during Aikido days, never healed right, ended up with nasty imbalance in 99 couldn’t run for 3 months). When my daughter was born, she was diagnosed with DDH (developmental dsyplasia of the hip - hip sockets not deep enough). Dr asked if I had problems, because there is a strong hereditary tie with DDH. Never really put 2 + 2 together until then.
When I had the bad-you-can’t-run problem in 99, I had to work hard on my run form. I moved to a forefoot strike, followed more or less the Pose method, and learned to keep my back straight and my core stable. 3 months of PT my friend.
Do you know the origin of this? Did you get any injury?
My running coach pointed out that my right foot points out much more than my left one. I had never noticed before and I was unsure where that came from until I last visited my parents and we went for a hike on the beach. As I was walking behind my father, I noticed that he has the same issue, on both sides and much more pronounced. I pointed it to him and he told me that his father’s feet weren’t straight either. So it is obviously genetics for me and I don’t see any reason to fight it.
Have you ever tried to run barefoot in a park on the grass? This has helped me. It not only stengthened my legs but I now realize how to run that much better on pavement when I wear shoes. It was a little painful at first because my muscles had to get adjusted but after a few times all is going well.
Very common problem. The most common causes are “soft tissue” related. That is, the muscles that control your leg rotation within the hip socket (mostly on your side and lower back) are too tight. Also likely, the muscles that rotate your leg inwards aren’t strong enough.
Comments above re: hip displacia are worth investigating. A good Ortho with an Xray machine can diagnose a problem with the way your hip socket is built. If its normal, you’ve got some loosening and strengthening to do. After the ortho eliminates dysplacia or something else permament, the next stop is a good PT who can help set you up with a stretching & strengthening routine. A good PT can also recommend a good massage therapist, who can help loosen those tight muscles. It is not a painless process.
I’ve recently started working with someone who practices ART, Active Release Therapy. My initial results have been VERY good, so if you have someone who does ART nearby, it might be worth a visit. My best description of ART is that it’s a sophisticated version of massage, with an emphasis on returning range of motion to your muscles and breaking up adhesions & scar tissue. Most ART practicioners are also chiropractors. I’d never been to a chiro, and found it weird to have my back cracked. Haven’t noticed any overt improvement from the adjustments, but the rest of me is getting better so something’s working!
Lee Silverman
JackRabbit Sports
Park Slope, Brooklyn
AP, thanks for the reply. I will talk to my GP about it, but I don’t believe I have hip dysplasia. When I was younger, I’d been in a car accident and had some back problems. Had CTs done in this area and nothing was found then. What did the PT do for you? Did you do water running?
I thought about just getting on an eliptical running machine and doing workouts, forcing my foot to be straight, and do a lot of stretchng afterwards.
G-dawg, (I cant bring myself to type g**** , it’s a Nole thing!) Also think about pronation. If your rt foot is real floppy and collapses on impact it causes your ankle to shift/fall to the medial (inside). This can cause you to toe out during push-off. I have a similar gait as well, rt. foot toes out at push-off and recovery. I strike with my rt. foot pretty straight, (in video slow-mo it’s plain as day). I too heel strike which is not a terrible thing, and I transition from heel to forefoot very fast on the video analysis, But on my rt. foot as I am striking, my toes for some reason rolls to the outside(lateral). So I push off with a slight to moderate duck foot, as well as when I pick it up for recovery. It gets straight as I pull it forward for the next stride and strikes under my body, so when I see it going underneath me it looks straight, it rolls to the outside out of my sight. I have tried to straighten it but it is what it is. One thing that has helped is I started to wear motion stabilizing shoes (to lessen pronation) and an orthotic. It has slowed down my pronation and has helped my foot alignment. Don’t go overboard with the stabilization shoes though, you can beat yourself to death with some of the hard as rock motion control shoes. I started with the asics 2090 and they have good cushioning and are not too hard. Try to get your gait looked at on a treadmill and videoed from front, rear, and side if possible, played back in slow-mo by someone who knows what to look for is very telling! I know, I was agast at my form and suprised I was even able to run it was so brutal!! good luck!
Does not seem to be from an injury…I’ve walked like this all my life!..I ran track in HS (distance runner) and had no problems…it’s just been since I’ve gotten older…
Interesting thing, I don’t have the same problem on the bike and have my right petal very slightly pointed out…although I do have the cleat adjust as close to the instep as possible.
I had to get my pelvis re-aligned, via massage, electro-stim, specific core strengthening exercises. Then it was reviewing my running form and forcing me to pull my gut/bum/pelvis in (like doing a kegel for 10k ha ha), and keeping my back straight. That helped a lot with the foot placement. Also, being a chick, landing with my feet slightly apart, to compensate for the wider pelvis.
This is what I have come to conclude too (muscle tightness, etc, no hip dysplasia)…When I was going to the PT for my hammy, they did not want to really address this as I asked a few times and even through out, what you/I had concluded…I was also getting deep tissue massage and that massage therapist, new it was an issue and worked on it some, and yes, it was very painful…I also inquired about ART to him, but he was not familiar with it…I’ve looked to see who locally practiced ART and the best I could find was about an hour and a half away…
I know I can do most of the work myself, but need to know what exactly to do…I’ll start investigating a little more…Thanks for your help.
I totally understand the not being able to type Gator…I have the same aversion to the smell to the west …Anyways…I’ve had my gait looked at for pronation, and I don’t really pronate…but I believe that was at a slower pace…I’ve run in a stabilization shoe before (because that was what I thought I needed before having my gait looked at) and it totally was not for me…I also know it is what it is, but I know I could run so much faster if I could get past this…It gets quite discouraging at times…
My feet already land apart some, and I’m not a chic!..lol…What type of core strengthening exercises did you do?..Maybe this is a good place to start…I’m sure my wife wouldn’t mind! ;)…Thanks AndyPants
Assuming this is correctable and just due to muscle imbalances, old injuries, etc. PowerCranks should be able to pretty much correct this problem in 2-4 months (assuming you put enough time on them in that period.
Frank, do you except insurance??? unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of spare cash right now to check out your theory…thanks for the thought though…
I am very very flat footed and was having lower leg issues. If it wasn’t one thing with a calf muscle it was something with the knee. My ankles were very weak also. I found some exercises at www.smiweb.org They advised hopping on one foot to strengthen ones calf muscle. I thought I could do one better and run barefoot at my park since that is pretty much the same thing. I noticed landing on the ball of my foot took being flat footed out of the equation. My calf muscle and Achilles Tendon felt stretched like they never have before. I had no pain in my hips. I just felt better after running barefoot. I don’t do every run barefoot at the park but I like it because I have gone away from being a heel striker and I’m feeling very confident about this season compared to last.
So what was happening that you needed motion control shoes? Also, what did you do to change your running technique?..specific drills?..Thanks for your time.
I have low arches that cause me to over pronate. Motion control shoes restrict the duck walking tendencies people with low arches have. My coach video taped me running on a treadmill and pointed out key flaws in my step. Then he moved me to a track for more technical and fundamental exercises. Eventually he got me to think about these key points instead of just trying to run as hard as I can without any regard for my form.
The first thing was upper body form. Upper body form should be relaxed with the shoulders over the ankles (I was leaning forward into my stride), chest up, shoulders relaxed, down and slightly back (good basic posture), chin slightly in, minimal rotation at the waist, elbows at a relaxed approximate 90 degree angle, gut in, and lower back straight.
Then we moved to the deficiencies in my stride. He got me to concentrate on “cushioning” my step by relaxing my knees slightly while flexing at the ankles on impact. Once the heel makes contact, the toe should be slightly pointed up, and the foot should then roll from heel to toe. Another problem with my stride was that I was bouncing up at the point where both feet are briefly off the ground. This was corrected from watching video tape and while various types of lunges before and after running drills in order to promote good strength and form. Eventually, I was using my power to propel myself forward efficiently instead of up bouncing up and down so much.
Dissecting video tape of my stride on a treadmill and a track was an excellent tool from improving my fundamentals. Without it, I’d probably not be running today. If you can get with a coach or physical therapist who does this, you won’t regret it. Neither will your knees, back, shins, and feet. There was a lot more to what we did, but the main emphasis was educating me on what good running form is, then showing me where I was going wrong, and finally working to improve my deficiencies.
People with low arches are at a slight handicap to runners with normal arches, but with a little help and the right shoes, we can overcome those deficiencies.
Frank, do you except insurance??? unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of spare cash right now to check out your theory…thanks for the thought though…
Of course, if your insurance will cover it. If your doctor or therapist understands PC’s and will write a prescription for you (or he will put them on a machine in his office for you to use during therapy) then they should be covered by insurance for this purpose. Otherwise, our 90 day moneyback guarantee should make your attempt to fix this cost you, essentially, zero, if you send them back. I would expect most to have this problem corrected in 90 days, if it is correctable.
…Anyways…I’ve had my gait looked at for pronation, and I don’t really pronate…but I believe that was at a slower pace…I’ve run in a stabilization shoe before (because that was what I thought I needed before having my gait looked at) and it totally was not for me…I also know it is what it is, but I know I could run so much faster if I could get past this…It gets quite discouraging at times…