Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. Mine has been great so far. I went out on a run on Friday after work, and managed the 8 mins run, 1 min walk again. We spent a few hours at the allotment on Saturday (saw the Red Arrows fly over) and made it ship-shape! The weeds had really taken over, and I had only been doing light weeding, but I have been feeling so much better so I took along a big fork and tackled the fruit bed, Andy tackled other weeds and my Mum and brother came along and did some planting for us. I was awake very early (we have a neighbour who mows his lawn with a strimmer very early on summer weekends) so I made some scones for my Mum and brother to thank them for helping us.
I made these with some dried fruit and a little almond extract, and one was a very welcome late lunch (and some chocolate tea) after all that digging.
I had a lot of jobs to do at home, so after doing some cleaning and tidying I walked up to Sweatshop as they were having 20% off.
I decided (I think while in hospital and reading countless running magazines) that this year I would get fitted for proper running trainers. I have always been happy with Nike shoes (and I like Nike+) but my current ones are not as comfy as my old ones, and the soles feel a little too thick.
Anyway, I thought I would have to run on the treadmill once, so I did wear my trainers and a sports bra. But it actually went like this:
I had to remove my socks, and stand while the lady felt my arches and heels (poor her), then I had to walk around the shop while she watched me. Then I had to try on a pair of neutral shoes and go on the treadmill while she watched me. Interestingly she said that my right leg is fine (my right knee is the one that used to give me issues and I have to be careful with) and my left foot does not overpronate, but it flicks out to the side a little bit. She said I needed moderate/ light supportive shoes, whereas my current ones were very supportive which is why they felt too solid. She also said that my current size (5) were too small. I tried on one pair of size 5’s and they did feel small, and I even measured the soles against my current ones to see (they were the same). So I tried on 5 1/2’s, and a couple of 6’s (but they were too big).
Anyway, she kept bringing out different shoes, I had to try them on, then go back on the treadmill again. At one point she got someone else to come and watch me run too- it was so hard to run naturally as I was really conscious of being watched! Anyway, this went on for over 30 mins! I must have tried on at least 8 pairs of shoes, and the ones I finally settled on I tried on twice and had to run with them twice (with a different pair in between to check) just to make sure.
So here they are! They have a 30 day exchange policy so if I don’t get on with them I can swap them for another pair, and I also got a free 16 week membership to an on-line run club (Full Potential Run Club- never heard of it but it sounded good) and a reminder that they have a run each week from the shop. They are Mizuno ones, and apparently the support (the wave?) goes along the whole length which should help to correct the flicking out.
So this morning I was up bright and early for a run in them! 🙂  I did the same route, and the same 8 min run, 1 min walk, but I managed it about 3 minutes quicker! They felt lovely, although I think I need to lace up the right foot better next time.
Then after a quick bath and breakfast I was off out again, this time to watch Andy and his brother run a local 10K race.
Photographer fail! When Andy was running along the finish bit, I took out the camera and took the photo, only the camera was switched over to showing me the last photo I took! Oops!
I did like it when the first person was coming in, and they started to play Chariots of Fire over the speakers!
I got his brother anyway (in the blue) as he was a few mins behind so that gave me time to work out what had happened to the camera!
Watching a race is so much colder than running a race- it was so cold out there! I had a hot chocolate when I got home as I was freezing!
I have been doing some other baking this weekend, but I will save that for another post.
Runners- have you ever had your gait analysed? Or anyone tempted? It was much more in depth than I was expecting.
Did you have a lovely weekend too ?
Oh wow, that is much more in-depth than I thought it would be!! I always got the impression that it’d consist of a minute or two of running, then a shoe suggestion, then a sale. haha!
Yeah I was pretty tired by the end!
Yep, I’ve had a gait analysis to fit my latest pair of orthotics. None of the idiots that made my other two pairs bothered to do one! It was much less involved and lengthy than yours though. Glad the shoes are a good fit!
xxx
Oh dear you don’t always have the best luck do you? Yep they seem good so far.
I got my gait analysed in March, but have only wore my new pair of shoes a handful of times since, I haven’t run for the last 5 weeks due to my knee problem, which ironically happened in my new shoes-the updated version of the old ones I had worn to death. It is really indepth, and I found it really interesting as well! Loving hearing about your progress, I can’t wait to get back to running myself in the next week or two!
Hopefully you won’t be far behind me. 🙂
I have never had my gait analysed and it really is something that I need to get done. Thank you for the reminder! 😀
I never have before, but I decided that it is sensible as the trainers I chose last year have not been as good- they have been OK but just not quite as comfy as I think they should be.
I’ve had my gait checked each time I’ve been to buy shoes so that has been great, although I’ve still had injuries! I’m desperate to get some nee trainers as mine are a bit old now! Looking forward to hearing about the baking!
I suppose trainers can help with injury prevention, but not completely. Ah I will save the baking for another day 🙂
i went to about 3 shops but finally brought from sweatshop before my 1st marathin however after getting severe shin splints & useless help from NHS physio, i went to a private physio who sent me to a podiatrist, who said i needed orthotics & i’ve never looked back since really! Its only been overuse injuries which are my own fault 😉 since then.
Over-use injuries are very frustrating though.
Well done to Andy and his brother 🙂 My Mum, Step-Dad and sister did a 10K this morning too, but I wasn’t tempted to go spectate! 😉 I’ve actually only ever watched them when the race is in our town, but it did get a bit boring, especially with Izzy constantly asking when she was going to see them!
My weekend has ranged from tearing my hair out stressful, to semi-enjoyable – the enjoyable parts have been at the new house, there are too many reminders of things I should be doing when I’m here! 😉 it’ll be worth it in the end though, if all goes well this will hopefully be the last move we’ll be doing until the children are a lot older!
I did wonder how it was going to go, but luckily I met up with their parents, and also the first person got in after about 30 mins (so fast) and after that it was entertaining seeing all the runners coming in.
All that stress will be worth it in the end 🙂
I’ve been meaning to get my gait analysed since my ankle injury over Christmas, but haven’t got around to it yet. It seems like yours was very thorough though – I’ll be interested to see how you like the new shoes compared to the old ones!
It was really thorough- I really didn’t expect that. From the sounds of things, next time I might just have to try on new shoes and maybe run once with them, but as this was the first time around it had to be in depth.
The last time I went to a specialty shoe store for a gait analysis, I ended up walking out with the same shoes. I hope you like them as much as I like mine!
Well at least you know that you had the ones that were right for you!
Great to hear how well you are doing with your running – I’m a week behind you on 7 minutes 🙂
You did the right thing having your gait analysed – ill fitting shoes are often the cause of strains and injury which can put you out of action for quite a while.
Good luck with the new shoes!