Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Tango Canoe / Gait Analysis

1st I know I will forget this before next year's tango, so I'll write it here.
just below the refinery there was "whitewater". There was actually a safety canoe there as well. I guess with a race canoe, this section can swamp you rather easily. Which happened to many in the Canoe Races the week after the Tango. From what I understand, the route is to take the left side of the big waves, there is a good "path" which will also keep you from taking on water.

Gait Analysis: My running shoes are shot. I found this out from taking on water in the canoe. The air cushion of the right shoe gurgled for a few days after the tango. So I decided to take advantage of a place in the city that has treadmills setup at the store with Video Cameras.
They had me put on "neutral" shoes, (no pronation fix) and run on the treadmill. On the screen we could see that I had moderate pronation. (I would have guessed I had the opposite problem to be honest). So he then went back to the stock room and pulled down 2 pair of shoes. Then he video taped me on the treadmill again. The 1st set was better but it was still there. He said the next pair would do a better job. Sure enough, it looked great! Of course just for fun I had him pull down a couple other brands that were built to fix my problem. He video taped me with all of them, none of them were as good as the 2nd shoe. They are Brooks Adrenaline GTS 7's.
(There was no extra charge for the analysis).

Of course the real test will be once I get to do some running in them tomorrow night.

I wish I would have thought to ask him to video tape me with my walking shoes. I bought inserts for my walking shoes a few days before the Tango because my left foot was bugging me. They seem to be helping but it would have been interesting to see on film to see for sure. The place is close by, next trip in I'll see if they will check for me.

Here is another link explaining pronation.

3 comments:

Casey said...

I am also due for some new running shoes. This time around I am planning to do the same thing you did Matt. Unfortunately, it isn't easy to get to, but it will be worth the trip to ensure the proper shoes are on my feet.

I have yet to take a run since race day. My knee is actually feeling a lot better. Even though I haven't ran, I have had my bike out a few times and I have gone water skiing. Neither of those activities seemed to bother my knee in the least. The only time it really gives me any grief is at the end of the day if I have been on my feet alot.

My orthopod is booked up through mid September, so I haven't had a chance to see him yet. I think I will give it the rest of this week, then try the 1.5 mile loop in the neighborhood to see how it feels.

I have to admit, the extra sleep in the mornings has been nice, but I don't want to get too used to it. It only makes it harder to get back into the 5 AM routine. Grad school starts back up on 8/23 (7PM to 10PM, twice a week), so that will only compound my problem if I am not already back into a routine.

catmarlson said...

If you can't find a store down there, it's the perfect excuse to make a road trip for a visit!

Glad to hear that the knee is feeling better. I'll be curious what the orthopod thinks about it all.

Part of the reason I decided to go to this store is that my Dad just recently got fitted for ankle braces. He went to a podiatrist, the x-rays showed all sorts of problems and this was the "solution" for now.
It just got me thinking I'd better do what I can about taking care of my feet. I'd like to think I've only just begun with this "racing hobby".

catmarlson said...

This place seems to have Gait Analysis, I'd call ahead just to be sure.
It's probably closer than a trip to NYC.

The Runner's Source
Hilton Village, Newport News
www.therunnerssource.com

This place is probably closer than NYC