Discussion: nike free?

Have you fallen for the barefoot technology shoes?

Interestingly Fletch, I found no problems at all running in the lightweight sprinty shoes (that I was only ever expecting to be able run in on grass) for all days of the Easter carnival. You know how bad my feet are, I was very surprised to be able to go back to what was pretty much the equivalent of the old Walsh shoes that I used to O in ages ago.

Jacko - Inov-8 Road-X 255's.
Tooms - my feet survived 6 races in the 212's pretty well, but my achilles weren't great. Whether they would have been any better in other shoes is an unknown.

Didn't you get a stress fracture Tooms?

I don't have a problem with minimalist shoes that encourage a forefoot strike in non-injured people. However encouraging a forefoot strike in someone with achilles problems is really asking for trouble.

Yes, I wondered that, but I suspect that it's more likely from a specific incident rather than not too many ks of orienteering. The one time I had a fib stress # before was kicking a tree stump on a fast downhill section - it didn't give! Wouldn't I have got sore feet and sore tibias if it was the shoes? Not a unilateral highly-specific fib thing?

Not necessarily, without knowing any details of the fibula injury I can't say much but a stress fracture results from repetitive strain/bending of a bone rather than a specific knock to the area.

As far as where the soreness would come it depends on what tissue is being stressed excessively. So a change in footwear/running style/ surface etc. etc. can produce symptoms in any load bearing structures. The fibula is not strictly a load bearing bone but the muscles which attach to it are responsible for controlling biomechanics and therefore can increase the strain on the bone itself if overused.

Also stress reactions are barely bilateral and are usually very specific.

Well, Jacko, you looked at my feet a while back for my knee problem and (correctly) concluded it probably wasn't my feet causing the problem. I've been as injured as I've ever been in the 4-5 years I've run with orthotics in stable shoes, so I figured there was no harm in trying something different for SOME runs.

For a long while I was running about once a week barefoot on the beach, and had no achilles problems. They came back after I hurt my PF and had to stop beach running. I reckon if I get my calf muscles stronger again and get the achilles settled down, then I should be OK. I've never done so many rehab sessions in my life...

Ain't age grand?

Fletch that is exactly what I am saying, barefoot beach running is fine when you are not injured (in most cases). Saying your feet aren't related to your knee pain doesn't mean they aren't related to your achilles pain though. Rearfoot mechanics play a huge role in AT.

Trying something different is worth a try when things just aren't working but I would not recommend something that is clearly going to increase the load on the structure you are trying to offload. ie. Encouraging forefoot striking in AT. Even though you feel like you have done lots of rehab realisticly you are only a couple of weeks into it aren't you?

Have you had an Achilles Ultrasound? Just to make sure there is no tear

Jacko - you are right. I know there's a lot of rehab to go.

I also ordered the shoes when I thought my achilles were more or less under control and would be recovered much faster. I don't intend to use them until things are settled. Whether they contribute to a relapse will be dealt with further down the track ;)

Haven't had a scan. If there's no improvement (particularly left side) in the next few weeks i'll go get one, but the fact that I can do the eccentrics without too much pain makes me think I'm alright on that front.

(I have also decided to get the orthotics back in my shoes for school in the short term. If nothing else, they raise the heel slightly and might help keep things unloaded)