Pounding Pavement

I'm a bit nervous about my shoes. When I first started running, I was told by someone who clearly knew nothing that I had a neutral stride and could wear whatever I wanted. Three sprained ankles later, I learned I am an extreme supinator, running almost exclusviely on the outsides of my feet. After much discussion with a footwear specialist, I settled on a pair of Brooks Lady Dyad and never felt better. Oh, and some custom orthotics.

After my last marathon, I ended up with severe IT band strain. During therapy, I was told as a supinator, I have very high arches and need a cushioned shoe. Both my ortho doc and my podiatrist ADAMANTLY insisted that I need a motion control shoe. I elected to take the advice of the physicians and ended up with a pair of Nike Ariels. Nice shoes, just fine.

No problem until about 2 months ago when BAM! Another flippin' ankle sprain!! I can't blame the shoes, I'm sure, but I can certainly question them under hot lights. So now as I ramp back up to marathon distance wearing an ankle brace, I notice that my feet hurt more than usual after pounding the pavement for a few mile. It goes without saying that your feet hurt after running 17 miles, but this seems to be unusual. I'm wondering if this is related to the fact that my motion control shoes don't have the same cushion that my beloved Lady Dyads have.

With a bit of skepticism, I'm going to lace up my Brooks' for the 20-miler this weekend. With the ankle brace keeping my stable, I'm curious to find out if the cushioning will help ease the pain. But as I said, I'm nervous. There are few things as disheartening as an injury this late in the training season.