Running Again

I think the vacation from running is over. I felt like running today and packed a bag of stuff for a run later this afternoon. This time around I let my urge to run again tell me when it was time to start back up. By the time the San Antonio Rock-n-Roll half was over, I was sick of running. I think my feet were too. The blisters have healed up. The plantar fasciitis is all but a memory and the knees are good.

I'm also wanting to get back in the pool. Runner's World Magazine had a feature called Wet Equity in the January 2010 issue available now that really gets into detail about pool running. I felt so weird running in the pool last summer with swimming a couple laps freestyle and then run a couple of laps but wouldn't you know it, the article advises doing that very thing.

Here's more on greenhouse gases and the trouble they cause. Luckily in the winter the air is tolerable during the noon hour or afternoon if there's an updraft to carry the pollutants away. That way I don't have to wake up before the sunrise to get my run in.

A side note. Three of the last four cars I rode in didn't have the air conditioner setting to recirculate the inside air. I didn't make it a point to check when I first got in the car. It was only when I smelled something bad like exhaust that I would then look for the inside air button.

Learning More About Feet

There's no escaping computer technology if you're a runner. Most notable of pervasive technologies is the iPod where you'll see people listening to their favorite tunes as they run their miles at the Lady Bird Lake Trail. GPS technology, Nike chips inserted into shoes, Times watches that track distance and heart rate monitors that monitor the effort being placed on the body all help the runner perform a little better.

Dr. Scholl's has now brought computer technology for walkers and runners to the neighborhood pharmacy or grocery store with a foot-scanning kiosk. In the past, a person needed someone knowledgeable about feet or running shoes to take a look at how they walked or ran. Even with video analysis and so-called experts, the shoe recommendation was many times inaccurate.

It's very rare that a person's body is perfectly symmetrical. If one foot is a little longer than the other it can change the way a person runs, and thus cause a problem somewhere else in the body, usually the knees or the hips. As one gets older, past injuries, muscle imbalances and plain old aging of the body make selecting proper footwear more difficult.

Nike, Asics, New Balance and other show manufacturers create various types of shoes to account for differences in stride mechanics and type of running surface. You will also see various orthotics, arch supports, heel supports, etc. that'll make your feet feel good or correct foot abnormalities. But up until now it was mostly trial and error with the selection of running shoes and the additional products. For many people it wasn't until after a visit with their podiatrist that they were educated about the nature of their feet and what shoe products they should purchase.

Dr. Scholl's is placing a mobile point-of-purchase foot scanner kiosks at thousands of locations around the country. You remove your shoes and stand on the scanner and allow 2,000 pressure sensors to identify where you place the most weight. There are several scans made and you'll be required to hold the provided handles while you lift the right and left foot individually off the scanner. It also measures foot length and arch type and then recommends a custom fit orthotic. The price of the custom orthotic was $49.99, which is a little steep for my budget, but 1/10th the price of true custom orthotics which can easily cost upwards of $400.



I had always thought I had high arches. I don't recall where I received that analysis nor can I recollect an expert or shoe salesman telling me I had high arches. The Dr. Scholl's scanner indicated I had low arches with high pressure put on the heels, as well as equal pressure between the feet. Given my plantar fasciitis last year and seeing the scan of the feet, I would say this was an accurate read. I'm not sure if I'll purchase a pair of the custom orthotics but I will log the information it gave me in order to make more informed running shoe and shoe product purchases in the future.

By the way, the scanner I used was in the pharmacy section of my neighborhood HEB.

More From The Age of Irony

The other day, The New York Times published an article titled, Wiggling Their Toes at the Shoe Giants. The two paragraphs from the article below really nail the controversy brewing about barefoot running and point to the irony. How ironic, the same company that created heel running, then created a shoe to get away from it, based on how elite college athletes were training.

Things changed in the early 1970s, when Bill Bowerman, a track coach turned entrepreneur, created a cushioned running shoe that allowed runners to take longer strides and land on their heels, rather than a more natural mid- or forefoot strike. Mr. Bowerman and his business partner, Phil Knight, marketed the new shoes under the Nike brand, and the rest is history.

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The big shoe companies are clearly paying attention to the trend. Nike was first to market with the Nike Free, a flexible shoe for “barefootlike running” with less padding than the company’s typical offerings. It was introduced in 2005 after Nike representatives discovered that a prominent track coach to whom they supplied shoes had his team train barefoot.

My take. I have a pair of Nike Free, a pair of Vibram FiveFinger and a pair of New Balance running shoes. They each have their place in my training. I'm not about to go on my ten-mile run or longer with the Vibram or the Free. When I did try even five miles in the Free it put too much force on my Achilles tendon. I've been adding more distance with the barefoot shoes but actually like them more for my speed workouts and pool workouts. Then I use the New Balance for my long run. The best of both worlds.