New sneakers to help ankle pain?

[Insomniator]

Hey everyone, I've always had bad ankles- used to roll them all the time playing sports in high school. Usually minor but once in a while pretty painful to walk on for a few days. Anyway while they are fine for normal use and even playing tennis for hours, ~2 miles of running will make it hard to walk all over again. Even though I would think the fast directional changes in tennis or football would be worse for them, I guess the constant repeated non stop pressure of running really gets em.

Its annoying because I just ran a 5K and my ankles almost made me stop long before being out of breath. I'm not in terrible shape or overweight (5k was 33 minutes with zero training and being hungover from the night before), but man my ankles SUCK.

My sneakers are always just whatever random nikes are on sale somewhere. Would dropping $100+ at road runner and getting my feet and running gait scanned/analyzed for the perfect sneaker actually make a difference or is that all BS? The pain is the same for both, on the inside from the arch to lower shin.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Age, weight, sex?

 

[Insomniator]

29 170 m

 

[Carson Dyle]

Are you a heel striker? If so, look into changing your gait to more of a forefoot or even a midfoot strike. Don't count on it being easy to change, but it takes a lot the pounding out of running.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Are you a heel striker? If so, look into changing your gait to more of a forefoot or even a midfoot strike. Don't count on it being easy to change, but it takes a lot the pounding out of running.

Havn't studies already shown this to be a non issue? I know long term they proved it. But wouldn't that mean that daily runs would result in the same type of result?

 

[GasX]

Do your sneakers wear unevenly? You might have a pronation issue which can be addressed by shoe choice and/ or inserts.

 

[ControlD]

Maybe expecting to run a 5K with zero training (and hungover) could explain some of your pain as well.

An analysis of your running gait might be a good place to start. You might have something abnormal in your stride that is causing your pain. A long term strengthening program focusing on the ankles and lower legs would probably help as much as anything.

You can try the big box running store approach and go with the whole pronation thing if you believe in that stuff. I think it's all a load personally, but in any case the right shoe can make a big difference. From my experience the least amount of shoe you are comfortable with is generally better than something that tries to alter the way your foot wants to naturally move (pronate).

 

[Capt Caveman]

See a physical therapist

 

[angminas]

Is there a New Balance store vaguely near you? Go get your feet and your gait checked out.

http://stores.newbalance.com/