New shoes added 2 years onto fitness age 😱

[Juliet202]

Ok there’s a lot going on here.

New shoes !! Hopefully to match my bunioned feet. Got gait analysis done and after internet research and trying a few on settled for Hoka Clifton 7 wide fit, half a size up from my previous flimsy and ancient Nike flex fury which were starting to rub on longer runs and possibly making me suffer from plantar fasciitis (self diagnosed so not sure there !!). First run in new shoes was great - though I foolishly started with a long run (50 mins - yikes), but was prepared to do shorter one if they gave me trouble. Long story short - towards end of my run I noticed my ankles felt like they were doing more work than usual - while my feet felt lovely and happy ! Cool down walk home was like on air - great. But when I took them off realised there must have been some pressure on the outside of my left foot - the widest part of my foot. Maybe they are not wide enough ?! Is a bit painful but not chafed or red or anything. Hope tomorrow it’s not worse and maybe will alternate with old shoes next run but - any ideas on why my ankles felt like they were working harder ? I’ve gone from an unpadded shoe to padded one with arch support.... And had them laced right up to the last hole, though don’t think they were too tight...

Second thing going on - well I’ve been trying to cheat my Garmin (birthday present !!). Having been thrilled that my first couple of runs had my VO2max showing my fitness age was 3 years younger than reality (yey!) after today’s run it’s showing I’ve regressed 2 years !! Rather than accept that I’ve over done it.... I’m hoping it’s because I’ve confused the programme - you see I’m following one of the Garmin 10K coaching plans but I’m only in week 2 while at the same time I’ve just completed week 5 of JuJu’s plan - so the Garmin run was just 20 mins run with 5+5 warm up/cool down but I was aiming for a full 50 mins running - so I ran the Garmin 30 mins programme (running through the cool down) then restarted it and ran another 20 mins on a ‘free’ (not programmed) run. Of course it thinks I must be terribly unfit to be huffing and puffing so much for the second 20 min run - so is this why it’s reduced my score ? Very unhappy !! 🤨

[Sandraj39 Graduate10]

Hokas are low drop shoes - great for relieving stress on the hips and knees but this lower drop can be harder on the ankles and lower legs/calves for some. Hopefully you will adapt. 🙂

I run in Hoka Arahi’s and am a massive fan but we are all different and what works for one may not be so great for another.

As you have changed from a very different shoe it might have been better to start with a shorter run but hey ho - its so hard to know! Sometimes we can run in them straight from the box with no break-in period.

Fingers crossed for your next run.🤞🏻Good luck.🙂

[Juliet202 Graduate10 in reply to Sandraj39]

Thanks ! That’s helpful to know (about the low drop) - indeed my knees felt better too - had no problem climbing 4 flights afterwards while on past occasions I’ve noticed a hint of a twinge. I kind of knew I should start with shorter run but .... impatient !!

[Lizzibeth78 in reply to Sandraj39]

With your Garmin you can keep running at the end Of the planned run without starting again, I do this all the time. When it says done just hit the button you do to start and it will continue.

I quite often run to make sure I’ve done a full K or fancy a longer run.

Not sure it will help you VO2 Max but you never know.

[Juliet202 Graduate10 in reply to Lizzibeth78]

Ah, I didn’t know that !! Thanks !!