getting started with running

https://www.parkrun.org.uk also worth a look if you have one nearby.

I'll also go against the grain a little on the "proper shoes" thing, purely on the basis that this is a moneysaving site. If you're just starting off running, there's every possibility that you won't enjoy it, won't find the time, won't stick at it...so investing heavily in trainers could just be a waste of money...

Get yourself a cheap pair of runners and some sorbothane insoles (that will provide more cushioning for your joints than even expensive pairs of trainers at a fraction of the cost)...Then follow something like c25k nice and gently and 99% of people will suffer no ill effects...Then if you get to 5k and you enjoy it, think about going and getting your gait analysed etc. Use the old pair for shorter runs still, or just use them for gardening etc.

thor wrote: »

I agreed completely with Idiophreak until the bit about getting gait analysed once beginners hit 5k. The reason is that if they can get to running 5k comfortably then why not just carry on as you are?
Going from zero to 5K is a much bigger jump than going from 5K to 10K or even 15K. Once you get to these kind of distances then I can't see the need to run any further unless training for a half marathon or beyond. People are seeing too much science into running: Our hunter gatherer ancestors had no need to check their gait despite being able to run for hours on end and in the intervening millenia we have not evolved that much.

The greater the distance you run, the more reps you'll put through all of your muscles, tendons and joints - so the more important it is that each strike puts minimal stress on all of them.

Our hunter gatherer ancestors typically died around the age of 30, so I'm not sure they're really what we want to base our ideal life on. Additionally, we stuff our feet into shoes from an early age, which twist and misshape our feet in all kinds of interesting, unnatural ways...If people were barefoot from birth (like our ancestors), you might have a point, but we're not.

thor wrote: »

It wasn't the running around that killed them at an early age though.

Indeed, I think it may have been the not-running-away from things rather than the running

HBS x

Interesting debate about running shoes...

I treat a lot of patients where problems in knees/hips/back come from the feet. If you overpronate (dropped arches) which is very common then you are more likely to get shin splints, and a number of other injuries (I won't bore you with a list). If you over supinate (much much less common) which is essentially a high arch that is very rigid then you lose shock absorption. My advice would be don't get a gait analysis unless you can get the same shoes cheaper as they inflate the prices to cover the gait analysis or if you start to get the same pain when running more than 3 times in a row.

An easy check for buying cheaper trainers is first stand on one leg without any shoes on, note how much your foot rolls in, how much ankle movement there is and how easy it feels. Then with each pair of trainers you try on stand on one leg again and see if it feels easier, more difficult or the same. Go for the trainers that make it the easiest, less rolling in and less ankle movement.

The other piece of advice for anyone who over pronates (dropped arches) is strengthen your gluts....weak gluts = overpronation, often inturning knees and therefore joint pains. I hope this has been useful to somebody, if not then I apologise for waffling :-)