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Show HILLTOP TIMES TIMES 8 August 9, 2007 CLINIC From 5 the more cushioning, and the softer your ride. You can compare mid-sole softness among different shoes simply by squeezing the mid-sole with your thumb at both the heel and forefoot — the greater the indentation, the softer the mid-sole. Keep in mind, however, that a soft midsole will compress and grow flat faster than a more rigid material. Along with good cushioning, the mid-sole should counter is usually a chunk of also provide good stability and adequate flexibility padding called an ankle colin the forefoot, around the lar which is intended to proballs of your feet. These last tect and cushion the ankle and the Achilles tendon. two features, though, tend to fight each other. A soft Uppers mid-sole allows flexibility at the expense of stability. The This is the portion of the key, of course, is to find the shoe that covers the top of right balance for you. your foot. The uppers of almost every running shoe Heel counter are made of nylon or nylon mesh, which is lightweight The stiff material at the back of the shoe is built to and breathable and, unlike leather, doesn't stretch when resist too much motion in wet. the ankle. If you overpronate, you should look for a Know your foot rigid heel counter. Give it a squeeze to see how firm In order to pick the right it is. At the top of the heel shoe, you have to know a bit about your foot. There are very few runners lucky enough to have feet so biomechanically efficient that they distribute weight perfectly from heel strike to toe off. The rest of us depend on our running shoes to neutralize the flaws in our sadly imperfect feet. Understanding the structure of your foot will help you understand the type of running shoe you need. The over-pronator You over-pronate when your feet roll in when you run, and you supinate when your feet roll out. If s natural to pronate somewhat when you run, but many runners have feet that simply overdo it. Take a look at the bottom of your running shoes. If you are an over-pronator your shoes will be more worn on the inside edge of your shoes than the outside edge. In severe cases, the shoe will actually slope dramatically inward. You may have trouble with shin splints or runner's knee. Over-pronation is a symptom of highly flexible feet that need a little help from their running shoes to maintain stability. For added motion control in your shoe, you will generally have to sacrifice a certain amount of cushioning. Rest assured, it's worth it. Specifically, you should look for a shoe with a firm mid-sole, especially on the inner side of the shoe. The shoe should have a straight board last and a rigid, durable heel counter. A good arch support might be helpful The supinator Supination is the opposite problem. Your foot rolls outward when you run, and you can tell by the fact that the soles of your running shoes are worn and compressed along the outside edge. Supination tends to put too much stress on the bones, tendons and ligaments on the outside of the foot. Because you don't pronate enough, your foot is doing a lousy job as a shock absorber. You may have trouble with ankle sprains, plantar fasciitis, iliotibial band syndrome and knee pain. Supination happens pretty much exclusively to runners with rigid feet, often with high arches. You need a flexible shoe that will give and bend where your rigid foot will not. Look for a shoe with a very soft mid-sole — it should compress fairly easily with your thumb. There should be very good cushioning in both the heel and forefoot. The heel counter should be flexible and essentially useless — not rigid. Finally, the shoe should have a curved (or semi-curved) slip last. The neutral foot Here, you don't need to worry much about stability or motion control. Your foot handles the job just fine on its own, thank you very much. In fact, too much motion control may actually screw up your foot's naturally smooth action. Look for a nice, cushioned ride with a shoe that has a semi-curved slip or combination last. QUALITY CONSIGNMENTS IS HERE Let the Sunshine in! & IT'S AS EASY AS ONE, TWO, THREE Call for delivery or pickup* arrangements to put your item in Quality Consignments warehouse outlet. We'll advertise and market your item in all our print and internet multimedia. #;SOLATUBE We'll sell your items and send you the check. * * No calls to take, no visits to your home, no hassles! 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