I am a fore/mid-foot runner with late stage/gait pronation. I believe i have what is called forefoot varus - i have the characteristic callouses on the medial sides of my big toes. I have had 3 tendinitis/tendinosis injuries in my lower legs and the 4. is rearing its head after a couple of months of solid volume running in Hoka’s. Any people here with similar problems? What types of shoes are you using? Any advice/guidance much appreciated. Thanks!
I’m not sure I can provide much help, but I believe I’m suffering from the same issues recently. I also have significant calluses in the same location and just developed achillies tendonitis on my left leg. In my case, I think I just combined too much volume and added in too much harder efforts too soon. 5 months ago, I also changed to neutral, minimal shoes (Cortanas, Kinvaras and some miles Virratas) shoes, which I like the feel of much better and thought I was adapting well. I’m midfoot but with a light heel strike. I was previously using Guide 6’s, the Hurricane and Trance the last 4 years and raced in T7’s. I think I tend to toe-off a little strong rather than driving with my glutes and hamstrings (I think a common issue), especially later in longer runs… that’s where I think I injured myself. Going too hard on runs over lasting over 8 miles.
I’m continuing with neutral shoes, but now using a Saucony Ride 6 as my primary trainer to get a little more heel offset to take some load off my calves and get more cushioning. To make matters worse, my Cortanas are at 400 miles and Kinvaras at 280 miles so I think both are near or at the end of their service life.
I can’t really point my finger at one thing since I’m running and cycling a lot more than I ever have before, and that in itself is probably the primary cause. Probably a little too much too soon. Apparently I am a normal human. I think I had been listening mostly to my knees and hips, but they have been solid and adapted very well to the higher volume. I run with a descent cadence of 176-190.
My plan is doing the eccentric strengthening exercises twice a day, using ice and anti-inflammatories, using a night splint to keep my heel close to 90 degrees to heel in a stretched position and cutting my mileage back to 18-20mpw (6 runs) until it’s better, then slowly building back to 35-45 and holding at 45 while continuing 6 days a week and stick with BarryP ratios and then slowly add back in Tempo intervals just 1 day a week and a run that’s mostly zone 2 a 2nd day, but otherwise IM pace (zone 1 HR).
I was seeing good improvement with just the consistent mileage of 45-55mpw and got “greedy” by adding in too much faster stuff too soon.
I’ll back-fill the run volume with a little more cycling at keep building the aerobic engine and overall fitness to improve my recovery rates so I can handle more volume later in the spring after I recover. I may also bring my strength training back with a good focus on drills, plyometric maybe some stretch cords for run specific durability as opposed to cycling and swimming. I had dropped it about 3 weeks ago when I went on vacation after doing it for about 10 weeks.
I’ll say this. This Achilles crap is scary. I’d rather have my PF issues back. It’s was a little more painful while running, but more manageable and I didn’t have the fear of something going POP suddenly.
I guess when things are going too well, life usually tosses you a curve ball to keep you on your toes.
Running issues can come from 2 primary directions.
- “From the ground up”
- “From the Top Down”
This applies for most running gait issues, including “pronation”.
Top Down is hip weakness etc etc that affect leg function. Typically you want to deal with this through strengthening or what ever address the specific issue.
Ground up is how your foot / shoe interacts with the ground. For this we’d typically work on that interface in a mechanical sense (dual density midsoles, wedges etc)
Significant forefoot varus (which would need to be checked by someone who know’s that they’re doing such as a PT or orthopedic Dr. ) is a ground-up situation. A varus wedge may help in correcting the gait pattern. This is the same as can be used in cycling.
I am in no-way telling you to put a varus wedge into your shoe, just pointing out how we deal with similar symptoms in different ways depending on WHY that symptom exists.
Thank you both for your inputs.
I guess it is rest and building volume back up without getting greedy. I have been looking at the Asics GT 3000 which is supposedly a shoe with correction for late stage pronation, but i do not know if it works for forefoot running. Perhaps i should consider transitioning to a heel strike.
I do use varus wedges in my cycling shoes and looking at a pair of old running shoe orthotics, they do have small rubber pieces glued to the underside at the medial part of the forefoot. I guess they will have to go back in my shoes - i removed them since they just felt wrong for my legs.
The 3000 has its stiffer density further forward than most traditional shoes, which can help. When forefoot running in a “traditional” stability shoe, you never apply significant pressure to the corrective area, rendering it somewhat useless.
Transitioning to a heel strike would just mean that you experience late stage overpronation during heelstriking. It won’t change the inherent biomechanics.
Where do you live?
I’d advise you to stop in with an expert in running biomechanics
I live in Copenhagen, Denmark…Ive noticed that Newton has stability versions of their shoes. How does that work in a so-called forefoot running shoe?