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More efficient running style

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Canute Mar 2014 10:26pm, 24 Mar 2014 913 posts	Quote Pin Canute Ian Sorry to hear you have been off with bursitis. Do you have any idea of what caused it? Was it excessive mileage? Did forefoot landing contribute? Perhaps the next question is how much fitness have you lost. I am usually dismayed by the amount of fitness lost during even a short break. Neuromuscular coordination can also deteriorate Are you unconsciously protecting the heel? Has the pain fully resolved? Has your cadence decreased? Maybe some short, brisk runs with a fairly fast cadence on a forgiving surface will help to re-establish good neuromuscular coordination. Build- up speed and distance gradually.
IanRunner Mar 2014 11:23pm, 24 Mar 2014 747 posts	Quote Pin IanRunner Hi Canute - thanks for your reply. Not sure what caused it, I think I was probably pushing myself a bit too hard at the time with speedwork. I think I may be overprotecting it to a certain degree so at the moment I wouldn't feel confident going for a short brisk run. Although I do agree this would help. There is no pain but I feel it is not completely heeled. It seems to be better when I try to relax my ankle but it feels so tense at times, it makes me wonder if this caused it in the first place.
Canute Mar 2014 8:27am, 25 Mar 2014 914 posts	Quote Pin Canute Ian If the Achilles s tight, slow eccentric stretch of the tendon in the manner described by HappyG on the Furman thread a few days ago if probably best.
IanRunner Mar 2014 10:13am, 25 Mar 2014 750 posts	Quote Pin IanRunner Thanks for that Canute. I have had a look and will give it a try. Have you got any recommendations for minimal shoes?
Canute Mar 2014 7:58pm, 25 Mar 2014 918 posts	Quote Pin Canute Ian My own preference is for moderately light, near zero drop shoes, but I think that if you have Achilles problems it is necessary to be very cautious about minimal shoes. It is definitely not good to put the load too far forward onto forefoot because this increases stress on Achilles. The increased stress at the ankle was one of the findings of the Capetown study of Pose, and as I understand it, it has led many Pose coaches to reduce emphasis on forefoot landing since that time. On the other hand, various studies have confirmed that a lot of padding under the heel increases stress at the knee. So each person needs to identify their vulnerabilities. In the long term, strengthening the calf and Achilles, and conditioning of the plantar fascia, can allow a runner to wear minimalist shoes safely, but for a person with recent heel bursitis, I would recommend caution about minimalist shoes.
IanRunner Mar 2014 11:45pm, 25 Mar 2014 751 posts	Quote Pin IanRunner Canute - very useful advice. I think I will avoid a lower drop at the moment. What do you think of Nike Free 3.0 and 5.0. I am leaning towards the 5.0 at the moment.
Canute Mar 2014 5:04pm, 26 Mar 2014 921 posts	Quote Pin Canute Ian I have not used Nike Frees, but for some time I have been intending to buy Nike Free 3.0 because of they are fairly light, have a reasonable amount of padding under the forefoot (I have downward protruding metatarsal heads as age has diminished my forefoot fat pads, I have come to appreciate a bit of padding here) and they have only a small drop from heel to toe (4mm). I am used to shoes with a small heel-toe drop. So I personally would go for the 3.0 The 5.0 has less padding under the forefoot and more padding under the heel. This might be adviseable for someone with a vulnerable Achilles. I think it depends on what you have been used to in the past. If you had a long experience with aa near zerol heel-toe drop before your recent troubles, the 3.0 might be OK. If on the other hand your recent heel problems developed after changing to a low drop shoe, or if you have never used low drop shoes, I think you would be wiser to go for the 5.0 because of its greater heel-toe drop (9mm).
IanRunner Mar 2014 6:44pm, 26 Mar 2014 753 posts	Quote Pin IanRunner Hi Caute. Thanks very much for your advice. I am currently using Inov8 233's which have a 6mm drop. I had used invo8 155's before that which I found really comfortable but didn't last long. The 233's feel quite hard and I cushioning may help at the moment.
Canute Mar 2014 12:00am, 27 Mar 2014 922 posts	Quote Pin Canute Ian If you are currently using shoes with a 6 mm drop I would not go any lower in the near future, so I think that rules out the Nike free 3.0 at present. I would expect the Nike free 5.0 to feel reasonably soft.
IanRunner Mar 2014 3:28pm, 27 Mar 2014 754 posts	Quote Pin IanRunner Thanks again Canute. I have been doing some exercises from Eric Orton's book, they seem to be helping my form.