It's almost been a full month since I started running on a regular basis and I've come to one conclusion. That is, I don't think my body is built for running. Specifically, my feet. I've got a pretty low arch on both my feet which makes it hard to walk/run long distances without the tibialis posterior tendon getting sore. Usually, I don't walk too far on campus for it to be a problem. However, over the summer I noticed it when I was in Germany. We walked everywhere. Most days we walked upwards of 5 miles in the city alone.

This is not to say that I haven't enjoyed running. But the low arch means two things for me. The first, as I said before, is a sore foot. The second is that I get tired out quicker. Because that tendon hurts after long distances, I've noticed that after running a while I start having less of an ankle push-off when I swing my trailing foot forward. What does this mean? It means to get my leg to swing forward, I'm using more hip and calf muscles to lift my whole leg and put it in front of my body in preparation for the next step. Since those muscles are a lot bigger than the ankle muscles, I'm using more energy than would normally be needed. Over the course of a few miles, that energy consumption difference adds up.

Granted, this will become less and less of a problem as I continue to run, but the tendon soreness will still be there. I bought a pair of orthotics to help with it. They are pretty good. The insoles have a lot of support on the arch, and they're pretty cushiony for heel-strike impacts.

 

Anyways, hope you enjoyed that biomechanics lesson. If you have any questions, my office hours are on Wednesdays:)