I’ve had an interesting learning experience the last few months.
I’ve been running in Altra Torin’s for years and I love them. But I had heard so many good things about the Altra Escalante that I really wanted to try them. It seems that everyone is talking about this shoe and it has been rated best running shoe by both Runners World and Self Magazine.
When it was time to replace my Torin’s I bought a pair of Escalante 1.5 online on sale. I knew they don’t have as much cushion as I'm used to and I was prepared to use them for walking if they didn’t work out.
I loved them right away. They’re light and fast and the toe-box is roomier than the Torin.
But after running in them a couple of weeks, my left foot began to hurt in the arch and I developed some soreness in the ankle.
I began to do foot strengthening exercises to strengthen my feet, thinking that if my feet were strong enough, I could still run in my nice new shoes. But after a little more time, I realized that I was fooling myself. I need more cushion.
Time to go to Jack Rabbit and get the newest Torin 4.0. While I was there, I explained my foot pain, and asked them to look at my form and do a gait analysis. It’s been a while since I had one.
Their staff person (actually Jack Rabbit calls them Fit Fanatics) could tell right away that my left foot is leaning in quite a bit and she recommended an insole with medium arch support. I asked her if it would weaken my foot muscles to run with support, but her view is that if I also strengthen my feet and arches, the soles are just injury prevention.
She showed me several exercises to do, the same ones that I´ve learned from runner friends on Twitter, and she recommended that I do them continuously. I will definitely follow her and my friends advice on this.
Now the interesting part. Ever since I started running, I've been noticing that my left leg seems slightly off balance. I'm never sure if it's because I'm right-handed and thus right-legged (is that a word?), or if it’s because I run on roads and paths that tilt for rainwater to run into the ditch?
But lo and behold, wearing the insoles seems to have corrected that. I feel quite a big difference.
And when I think about it, it makes sense. I’m knock kneed, especially in my left leg. It isn’t that strange that I stress the inside of my foot and arch if my left leg tilts outward.
I’m still on the fence about always wearing insoles when I run. But I might keep doing it. For now, I’m going to wear them and do my foot strengthening work. I’ll see how I feel in a few months and get back to you on my findings.
Oh wait…, I almost forgot, the arch and ankle pain? Completely gone. And the Torin 4.0 is awesome. It’s lighter than the previous ones and faster. It also seems more true to size, I went back down to 7.5’s whereas I wear 8’s in the Torin 3 and 3.5.
Happy Running!
