I did have a gait analysis done by my sports chiro but my gait isn’t the issue per se. I have a very flexible forefoot and extremely high arches. I forget the medical terms for it. Since I was new to running and did not know these things at the time I had decided to run with a mid foot strike as recommended in Evolution Running. It didn’t seem unnatural at the time so I kept with it. At first it was ok but after a few months I developed severe pain in my right foot on the top middle portion that would radiate out. I initially went to my sports chiro for treatment. My x-rays were negative for a stress fracture so he did ART for a few sessions over a week or two to see if that would help. He said at the time that my forefoot was extremely flexible and that when I did resume running that I should avoid landing midfoot because it was putting too much pressure on that area. When it didn’t get better I went to see a Podiatrist that a fellow STer recommended. At the same time I made an appointment with my Ortho because he had prescribed me Orthodics months earlier that I wasn’t using. I saw both docs within a few days of each other. They both said that I had a very flexible forefoot and added that I also have extremely high arches. Since x-rays were negative they wanted me to get an MRI which I have done. I have an appt to review the images later this week. Of course it took a long time to get the MRI done and get back in front of the doc and by now the foot is feeling 100 percent. I probably should have waited to have the MRI reviewed before running again but the foot feels great (my hip is another story).
This wasn’t really a post about my injury though. I was just curious about any running drills to help develop efficient run form. I understand from the posts that most seem to think that we will self select the best forms for ourself. That is fine but surely there can be obvious flaws in the way someone runs that ought not be developed. I see people running who just don’t seem to be running very comfortably. I also know that overstriding is a major cause of injury so I want to make sure that I’m not doing any of these obvious things.
I don’t know much about the Jeff Galloway thing but since he lives in my area and seems to be well known for helping beginning runners avoid injury I thought I would check it out pending what people said gets covered in these clinincs. So far no one has really answered much of what I have actually asked and have focused on the gait stuff. That’s cool but I was hoping to get answers for that.