Running shoes and under/overpronation

[wackyjacky1]

I am so glad to see this thread! I am suffering from some major knee pain and can barely walk.

A few weeks ago, I decided to begin a "Couch to 5k" running program. I went to the New Balance store and was told I needed Motion Control shoes, and they sold me a pair of NB 1123's.

On my last run (almost two weeks ago now) my knees began to hurt. I tried to push through it, but after about ten minutes the pain became pretty intense and I had to walk the rest of the way home.

Since then, the pain simply will not go away. I have to take two ibuprofen just to be able to move around. I even have to take ibuprofen at night 'cause it hurts just when I'm lying in bed. Needless to say, running is simply impossible. Before I saw this thread, my gut feeling was that it was the shoes that had caused the pain, and now I feel certain they're the culprit.

[GLC1968]

Yep, I learned this 7 years ago when I was given custom orthotics in a heavily structured shoe and everything just got worse. I too gave up running (for cycling, yay!) until I read Born to Run last fall.

I'm now running again, injury/pain free and my milage and speed is increasing steadily. I run either barefoot or in a pair of 'BarefootTechnology' shoes.

And I would also like to add that I have virtually flat feet and I over-pronate. My podiatrist said 'so what? That's how your particular foot works, don't fight it'. Smart man.