Well that was interesting.
OK, so no running involved for this exam. Must have been for the “real” athletes. It was like a regular clinic inside, but with rooms that had weight machines. These two guys were there. One was the orthopedist for the Olympians (blue MD scrubs) and the other guy owned the orthotics place (business casual clothes) down the road. Conflict of interest? Maybe.
Anyway, I told them about the shin splints and they watched me walk in shoes, barefoot and then slow and real fast. They said I have no pronation at all, so no specific need for stability/motion control shoes. They said my arch was high, but not terribly so. The orthopedist said that I needed good arch support but more importantly, I needed cushion shoes. Good cushioning was key for my arches. He emphasized this alot. Then he said a pair of orthotics after that. $300 - $275 a pair and my particular insurance won’t cover it.
Then he used the word “crack”. Not the drug. Not the nasty term either. He had me lie down and pressed on the shins where the pain had been the first time and then where it is now. I did the heel and toe jump tests too. One foot jump and see if it hurts. He said to me and the orthotics guy “It could be a small crack. You could get a bone scan and see.” Now, to him, a bone scan is nothing because with the real athletes they just do whatever they need to do because its their job. The rest of us can’t just get this stuff done “just in case”. He said a crack is no big deal, you just wait 6 - 12 weeks and then start running again.
I asked him if running on it would do any damage if it didn’t hurt and he said if I had a crack there, I will feel it eventually. He kept saying that it was possible I had a stress fracture. I asked if a stress fracture would stop hurting if I stopped running for 6 days (like I had) or would it still be painful. He said its possible that the pain would stop (that’s when they asked me to do the jump test).
The orthopedist walked out and the orthotics guy stayed while I put my shoes back on. He said you can get good orthotics from alot of places, not just his, so look around and see which one I like best. He also said that the Superfeet work for only a few people (well, what’s he going to say?). I asked if they would be hurting my feet and he said no, but they may not really be helping at all.
He said to go to XXXX running store and they can fit me for the right shoes. I told him that was funny because I went there and they told me that I pronated. Then he asked who it was that said it and I said I didn’t know her name. He said ask for “Todd”, he’s the real foot expert.
So I left there (a little disillusioned) and headed to the shoe store for cushioned shoes. Todd was not there but the same woman was there that told me I pronated. She looked at my feet and said I needed a stability shoe. I told her I need a cushioned shoe and a higher arch. Cushion. She brought me three pairs with low arches and rock soles. I asked her if these were described as “cushioned” shoes with good cushioning for people who need a cushioned sole. She said they had “pretty good cushioning, but may not be as cushioned as some”. Oh, can I look at some cushioned shoes?
She brought three more pairs after spending alot of time in back. She was either having a sandwich or was asking someone who knew shoes. These three pairs were much more cushioned. I asked her the question again and she said, yes, these are definately cushioned. Two I really liked were the Muzuno Wave Alchemy and the Nike Air Kantara. The Mizuno’s had a harder sole, but better arch support. The Nike’s had a VERY soft sole. Turns out that neither is classified as a cushioned shoe, but reviews always talked about the super soft cushion in the Nike.
I asked her if I had run out of shoe options and she said yes in a somewhat exasperated voice. :)
I bought the Nike’s because the cushioning seemed to be the thing. I ran 2 miles in them at the gym and they felt ok. You can really feel the difference in cushioning from my other shoes. Its like you are running on two sponges. I didn’t put the superfeet in them, but I will tonight just to see if it adds better arch support. My shins were ok for the run. A little cramp once in a while but not much.
We’ll see how the next week goes. I’m taking this now a week at a time. I’ll try to get back on schedule but if thigns go south again, I may need to find another race. Hey, I can run the Martian full Marathon this time :D
Just for fun:
Not much there on a Wednesday night at 9 PM. The funny thing is that by Friday its all gone including the boxes!
