Did they let you keep the video? Upload!
Nope, although that would be interesting. An added note of comedy was that I was in a work dress, so the film includes the hem of a pale green seersucker sheath.
I wound up with a pair of fairly supportive Nikes, a size larger than I usually wear. No video on a treadmill--just a high school girl who was also outfitting a high school girl's cross-country team at the same time. Never have I felt older and fatter.
On the upside, I used the google maps pedometer to discove that the route I've been run/walking that I thought was about 2 miles is actually close to 3.25. So go me.
Just reiterating my earlier advice to break in the new shoes slowly. While they're surely correcting your gait to whatever is textbook appropriate, your body's had a lot of time compensating (hence the cocked-out ankles), so you'll have muscles unused to supporting your foot and weight with the shoes shifting your stance.
If the sheath explodes, you must upload.
A question for all the runners who will be reading this thread: I've tried to take up running several times; it seems like a nicely efficient use of exercise time, since I don't have to go to the gym to do it. But it makes my knees hurt. I once bought some nice New Balance running shoes (online, so without expert guidance, I admit), and they helped somewhat. I figure I just have creaky knees and am not cut out for running. But maybe I'm wrong. Is there some combination of miracle shoes and running technique that can save my knees, or should I stick to the eliptical machine and some bike riding?
Nothing exciting -- just a knee-length sheath in spring/mint green and white stripes. I'd link from the BB site, but it's last year's.
And woohoo for Chopper -- neat finding out that you've been going much much faster than you thought, isn't it?
8: Not a runner, but as someone who's dealt with nagging knee pain, I've found that nothing helps alleviate exercise pain as much as keeping the muscles around the knee very strong. Somewhat counterintuitively, if my knee starts acting up, it's a decent sign that I need to get to the gym and do some squats to get my quads & hamstrings & ass muscles back in shape, so they can do their job and the knee won't have to work as hard.
But running is not my thing at all, so I'll leave you in everyone else's capable.. uh, feet.
8: First, let me plug the Concept 2 rowing machine if your gym has one. I did my 10,000 meters this morning, and it's just great exercise. (I'm bad with routines. The current exercise plan is I wake up and row. If I'm feeling lazy in the morning, I can run at lunch. If I miss the morning row, and don't run at lunch, then maybe I'll have energy to row in the evening.)
Then, I dunno, how bad do your knees actually hurt? Like, maybe if you run for awhile, you'll build the appropriate muscles for cushioning them, and the pain will stop? But that's not actual advice, given that I don't know at all what I'm talking about.
Or what Cala said, which makes sense.
My half-informed opinion is that running is bad for your knees even if they don't hurt, so....
DaveB, FWIW, I've been consciously trying to alter my stride to a much flatter, less up and down style. I normally get knee issues when I try to run, but so far (except for minor twinges) the knees have been fine. The muscle on the front of my calf, however, has been killing me.
I have pretty dodgy knees -- lots of spinning on one leg with 100% of bodyweight on it, etc. -- and Cala's advice in 10 is good. Not that I am organised enough to squat or do any kind of serious leg work at the gym very often. But it definitely seems to help.
The fitness guy at my gym recommended Peterson' step-ups as a knee rehabilitation exercise.
http://www.jumpusa.com/jumpersknees.htm
Running, on the other hand, I have decided I just cannot do. Not without losing 40lbs first.
running just is no good for the knees in general. i've had some success with taking glucosamine. in high school when i was doing track i had some bad knee problems, and the PT had me on the bike and stairmaster a lot, as cala said, to build up the muscles around it.
Running doesn't particularly bother my knees, tbh. Cycling hits my knees a little harder (even with a properly adjusted saddle, etc). But running gives me bitchin' shin splints.
You know what would be sweet? an exercise vehicle that used the elliptical machine motion to drive wheels -- an elliptical bicycle I guess it would be -- so you could do elliptical training in the outdoors. Even better if there was a base you could mount it to in the wintertime, so the same machine works for indoor exercise.
I'm satisfied with my weight but I consider myself too heavy to run, because of long-term issues wrt knees etc., even though I have no problems, just speculatively. And because when I last ran, I had a tendency to turn an ankle every once in a while, and I hated that, limping home, sometimes miles away, etc.
I've cycled tens of thousands of miles in the last twenty years w/o knee pain, and unlike many people my age, have no "perch" issues either. I seem to be a natural, so it's what I'm sticking to.
Here's an article arguing, in effect, no knee pain, no knee gain:
Reporting in the journal Arthritis Research and Therapy, a team from the department of immunology and rheumatology at Stanford University in southern California found that adults who run consistently can expect to have 25% less musculoskeletal pain and less arthritis than non-runners when they get older.
[....]
Sammy Margo, a sports physiotherapist for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, says running doesn't deserve its bad press. "The key is consistency," Margo says. "If you run consistently, your joints, tendons, ligaments, disks and muscles get used to the habitual pounding of the activity. The body accommodates and copes with the demands."
It is the yo-yo runners, says Margo, who take up jogging and then drop it repeatedly over a number of years who might have problems after a while.
I would test the theory, if my chronic Iliotibial Band Syndrome didn't make my damn left knee hurt too much to run.
Seriously, does 18 not exist? Casual googling is not bringing it to my attention. It would be a great thing. Maybe I should go into business.
20: roughly parallel to Cala's "carp" issues.
Uh, that is to say, "Heebie's 'carp' issues".
I have a question for LB: running with your feet inline is how sprinters go; distance folks run with their feet straddling the (imaginary) centerline. So your description sounds to me as if you run like a sprinter. Is there some difference here, or what? Did whoever fit you explain this at all? Is there a reason sprinter-style running would be so bad?
I occasionally look at the POSE thing (http://www.posetech.com/pose_method/) and wonder if something like that would let me run without shin splints. Nothing else has worked.
!8: And also amphibious so you could use it at the beach.
Or perhaps an elliptical Segway, which could also climb stairs.
Emerson! I did not know you spoke !Kung.
the POSE thing
Text has said good things about POSE.
You may need orthotics for the overpronation - it can lead to lovely things, like Achilles tendons ripping, after which one has to eschew heels and wear "sensible" shoes at all times. [grumble, grumble] Fortunately, scarlet suede desert boots count as "sensible". [They look a bit odd with a power suit, but wotthehell, it's not a fashion statement.]
Totally off-thread, people are using large machines to dig holes in the lot behind my home, and someone has just started yelling hysterically 'Stop - it's a gas main!!!' If no one ever hears from me again, being blown to bits is the reason...
I'll second the plug for Concept 2's, (10,000 meters? Rock on!) although with the addition that newbies should really find someone who knows how to use one and get a demonstration. What you do intuitively the first time you sit down on one is exactly the wrong thing.
I just bought a pair of Nike Frees, which are mighty comfy although they're not cut wide enough for me to ever get a good fit on my flipper feet. And apparently they're not kidding when they warn you to start out easy on those things...
I'll second the plug for Concept 2's, (10,000 meters? Rock on!) although with the addition that newbies should really find someone who knows how to use one and get a demonstration. What you do intuitively the first time you sit down on one is exactly the wrong thing.
I just bought a pair of Nike Frees, which are mighty comfy although they're not cut wide enough for me to ever get a good fit on my flipper feet. And apparently they're not kidding when they warn you to start out easy on those things...
28: There is also chi running which looks similar to POSE that is supposed to be better on the shins. I haven't tried either so I don't know if they work.
Re knee pain when running, Cala's #10 is right on. Do some weight training on your quads (and hamstrings, since they're the opposite muscle.) Lunges-holding-weights will work well. And lunges-holding-weights are so tough and efficient that they fit the whole mentality of running.
I still get my Concept II newsletter. Up to Model E now! Those things are fantastic, but I'll heartily second cereb's advice about good technique. You'll fuck up your back if you don't know what you're doing, and that's no good.
re: 36
Thanks, I'll look into that. I have friend who is talking about going to see a POSE trainer. I'll talk to him and see if he's done it yet, and if it works, I might try it.
The whole idea of being very anal about technique appeals to me anyway. It's how I approach playing the guitar, among other things.
Depending on what comes over the news wire in the next hour or so, 33 could be a discretion error....
The whole idea of being very anal about technique appeals to me anyway. It's how I approach playing the guitar, among other things.
Is this that prog exercise I've been hearing so much about then?
41: Isn't it only a discretion error when someone else reveals information about a poster/commenter?
Speaking of trying out new equipment, I just switched from Firefox to Safari, and I do not like the way Safari is handling comments. (see double-post above)
I just switched from Firefox to Safari
Why??
I think that we should appreciate DominEditrix while she's still alive.
DominEditrix, you're a wonderful person and will be terribly missed!
45: Porn without the paper trail?
I'd be afraid of straining my prog.
Per ttaM, I've never been able to run well since I gained weight in 1983. There are other factors, but I recommend not gaining weight, and if you do gain it, taking it off some other way (and gradually strengthening your legs) before beginning to run again.
45: It may be that I had Firefox too tricked out with extensions, etc., but it had gotten really unstable on me recently and last week finally crashed on me one too many times and I snapped. Also, I thought it would be nifty to be able to sync my bookmarks, although now that I've done it, I'm not sure why I thought it would be useful.
Porn without the paper trail?
No more dangling chads.
47: Heh. You can do that with Firefox, too. But that it's been built into Safari for a long time is certainly a nice example of Apple keeping the user in mind when designing their products, isn't it?
But I was not trying to turn this from a sporty thread to a geeky thread. Redirect:
I was convinced for years that I was an underpronator, which is apparently unusual and not easy to correct for. Besides flirting (one-sidedly, I'm afraid) with cute salesguy Terry, having this delusion undone was the major upside of my trip to Jackrabbit and getting my own running movie made. Turns out I have a totally vanilla neutral gait, and can feel free to wear pretty much any shoe that I can find in wide sizes.
What are the chances of turning the zombie gait (stiff straight legs, arms extended in front at chest level, wrists limp) into an exercise fad, so that we can have our parks full of people doing it? Or alternately, one of Cleese's funny walks?
Brooks are awesome shoes. Really the most stable, durable, and well balanced I've ever tried. Some of them take a while to break in, though.
54: Ooh, what a great shoe marketing opportunity. Nike Brainz!
Oh, and fellow aging, heavy runners should check this out:
55: And pretty good looking, too, I see. But I don't think "Glycerin" is such a great name for a shoe, for the record.
Looks like things are as I suspected: I'm better off not running. Luckily, I've started a decent gym habit recently to stave off the heart disease. But I would totally buy one of Clownae's fancy elipto-riders.
Yeah, the erg is the only aerobic exercise i'll do.
I'd imagine that while running strengthens your knees enough to reduce joint problems, doing other exercises would be even better.
60: And the readout is endlessly entertaining (ooo, if I do a power ten I can get my average splits down .2 seconds. Cool. And then lose the .2 seconds as I catch my breath over the next minute or two.) As is the website -- there's nothing like having your low opinion of your fitness confirmed by ranking your pieces against other rowers. If I got back down to lightweight (where I just barely rowed in college) I'd look slightly more impressive, but still pathetic.
i have the exact same gait, even when walking: one foot in front of the other.
in the past two years i've gone from a lovely round of Plantar Fasciitis to the even-more-fun Inflamed Sciatic Nerve. shin splints are so common that i rarely even notice them any more.
Brooks are comfy, but they haven't solved my problems. i tried some Mizumo's, but they were so inflexible that it hurt my knees.
i really shouldn't run anymore.
You know what would be sweet? an exercise vehicle that used the elliptical machine motion to drive wheels
they sell elliptical front chain rings (aka "big front sprockets") for bikes. it's supposed to help you maximize the downstrokes and get you through the low-power part of the cycle quicker.i had one on a bike quite a few years ago - not sure if it did what it claimed, but i could definitely feel the difference.
I have an exercise machine where I just push on two pedals, one for "accelerate" and one for "brake". It has a radio and it's real comfy.
Heebie's failure to utilize the clutch got the Shimano people real mad at her, though.
So that's the secret to your purported great ass!
The better to sit on you, my dear.
Some scholar of bicyclism should write a monograph on "Recurrent Fads in Bicycle Design" Elliptical chainwheels have been tried periodically for over a century.
I have an elliptical gear thingy on my bike (which I bought used, and it came with the elliptical gear thingy). I haven't noticed that it's all especially swank or whatever, but when I get around to buying myself a new bike, I'll hang on to the old one in case I decide to salvage the gear-thingy.
69 is possibly the lamest comment I, personally, have ever written.