stability vs. motion control in running shoes? - Page 2

James Hawkins wrote:
>
> "Steve Freides" <steve@fridayscomputer.com> wrote in message
> news:3E791EB4.8CFD3B7D@fridayscomputer.com...
>
> > with perseverance, this can be overcome. I did it. I was a very heavy heel striker and I
> > changed.
>
> Q: Do you train in flats as well?

Yes. I was a 25 mile a week or so runner. I'm running less now - had a bout of pneumonia over the
winter and am also doing lots of other things
- swim, bike, tae kwan do, kettlebells - so the running is on the back burner, but I trained for a
marathon once and did my long runs, upwards of about 18 miles, in flats as well.

> Q: What issues did you encounter during the switchover? I'm more of a neutral striker than a heel
> striker but I am now trying to move my strike further forward. My usual run is about 10-15
> miles, and I find a) I can't persist the change for that distance yet, and b) muscles that
> never got stiff before do now. I expected both of these but what do you feel "with
> perserverence" constitutes?

I find that keeping my focus on where my center of gravity is in relationship to my feet works best
for me. If I strive to keep my feet beneath me when they strike, and strive to have my feet on the
ground for only an instant, my footstrike usually takes care of itself. Once in a while I think
about the mechanics of how it lands but, truth be told, the switch from forefoot to heel and back
to the forefoot push-off again happens very quickly. After all, my cadence is about 180. That's
another thing I focus on, keeping that cadence. Slower makes it harder to keep a nice, light,
forefoot strike.

When I was making the transition I first only did races and my speedwork days in flats. Doing
speedwork in flats was a good way to transition to them. Then I would take them out for only the
shortest recover runs in addition to speed work. And so it went, gradually using them more and more.

Problems? Yes, I had problems. When I wasn't forefoot or midfoot/neutral striking, my lower back
would bother me because of the lack of cushioning. For better or for worse, I have a bad back and
thus was and am very sensitive to this sort of thing, so it wouldn't take me long to fix my gait if
it had gone astray.

I should also add that I made the transition from my then-usual trainer to a lightweight trainer
first, and after I'd gotten used to that to a flat. I used the NB 828 as my lightweight trainer. The
RC340 would probably have worked as well or better.

Steve Freides wrote:

> Note that the 340 sells there for $68 while the 240 is $43. Lest there be any doubt, I have seen
> both these shoe models in person. I run in the 240. I ordered, and sent back as soon as I received
> them, a pair of 340's and have a friend who still has a pair.

I got a pair of 230s from the New Balance store in Seattle last year when I was visiting. I'm very
happy with them. They are lighter and the low heel is perfect for fast footstrike. Fine-tuning with
heel wedges, the speed difference is about 5-10sec/km for me over standard running shoes (I used to
run in NB 764s). STF