It's gotta be the shoes!

A few weeks before Swazi Xtreme (early August) I felt a twinge in my right knee. I thought I'd strained it at dance class as I had been trying some tricky moves that had me attempting to twist like a pretzel whilst hanging by one leg.

My knee didn't give any trouble during Swazi but the niggle was back a short time afterwards. I didn't run for two weeks after Swazi as I was down with awful flu. We're now five weeks after Swazi and some short runs done each week my knee wasn't outright sore, but I could feel that something wasn't right.

Considering that I've never had knee problems, I knew that something odd had to be up. The week before last I did some short, 30 minute runs and I'd get home feeling 'something'. I started ice, arnica and anti-inflam treatments to allieviate the inflammation and calm things down. By now I'd starting thinking, "Mmmm... shoes!". I suspected my two pairs of road shoes (I alternate runs in them), which each have over 1000km in their soles and another pair of casual trainer-like shoes I'd been wearing a lot because of the cold. I stopped wearing the casual trainers but the niggle persisted (I still think these contributed to the niggle - they're very suspect).

Last Tuesday I did a run and felt great until 3km when I felt that twinge coming back; definitely time to try new shoes.

I got my new road shoes on Thursday and ran in them on Friday evening, for 30 mins before circuit training. Nothing. Not a twingle, not a niggle. Nada.

I did Kinetic Adventure on Sunday. Nada. I ran last night on the road. Nada.

I was chatting to Steven (ADAC teammie) on Sunday after Kinetic. He ran Comrades in May and was fine. Then he picked up a right knee niggle at Kinetic Full Moon in late June and it played up again at Swazi. He's been going to physio since Swazi but the problem persisted. He began to suspect his new (new as of May/June) trail shoes. He stopped wearing them recently. Steven used his Comrades road shoes at Kinetic on Sunday and felt no twingles or niggles in his knee.

Steven's trail shoes, like my road shoes, will never be worn by us again. They're marked.

In 2000 I picked up inflammation in my left shin. It developed into a mild stress fracture and I just couldn't get rid of it. It would subside and then pick up within minutes of running. I knew so much less about running and shoes then - I could have been healed months before - so it took a while to realise that the problem was worn trail shoes. I got new road road and trail shoes and never had another problem.

In about 2003 I was on the tv crew for an adventure race in the Drakensberg. I took my new shoes to the race to chase teams. A day after the race I was limping and suffering from pain in my groin. I didn't know why because I couldn't remember sliding or falling or tripping. I went to physio and she couldn't find a problem. She put that silly machine on me and charged plenty. I went about three times and had no relief. Then, a week or two later I went on a shoot to Botswana. I'd been doing ok - I hadn't been running. I remember getting out of the van to run across the road to a store. I put on my takkies, which I hadn't worn for days, and within a 10 minutes I was limping, badly. I took the shoes off and never put them on again. Problem went away within a few days. And this was a brand new pair of shoes!

Shoes are such a major part of what we do and the effect of a bad or worn shoe can be huge.


The thing is, the only way to tell that your shoes are past their sell by date (or whether a new pair is wonky) is when you experience aches or pains in your bones and joints, slight muscle fatigue, new tightness or shin splints.

The outer sole (tread) and upper of your shoes may look ok, but the midsole could be shot.If the tread is well worn, the midsole will certainly be too. The midsole the part of the shoe that provides stability and cushioning and it may lose functionality unevenly, which is when niggles crop up. There probably wouldn't be much of a problem if the sole degraded evenly all over.

Mileage guidelines say that you should replace your shoes every 600-800km; but I also know guys who get 2000km out of their road shoes. If you run 40km/week, you need to buy new shoes (at over R1000 a pop!) every 3-4 months.

The hammering that your shoes take does depend on frequency of running (it's suggested that you alternate two pairs of shoes to allow midsole to 'uncompress' fully between daily runs) and your weight; heavier people are harder on shoes.

Other suggestions for monitoring your shoes so that you can replace them before niggles crop up are:

• Check the midsole for wrinkles/creases. You'll find them in areas of high load like under the heel and ball of the foot.
• Place your shoes on a table and check them out from behind. Are they leaning to one side? Midsole cushioning is probably worn. Look for asymmetry - one shoe fine and the other not. This causes problems too (compensation issues).
• Twist the shoe: a shoes with a worn midsole will twist more easily and to a greater extent than a new shoe.
• Try on a new pair of the model that you are currently wearing. If your old shoe feels flat in comparison, it is. Replace.

Buying new shoes every few months is a costly exercise; but far less expensive than the emotional, physical and psychological effects of niggles and injury and countless physio sessions. Always suspect shoes if you pick up a niggle.