Blog

Claire Slater-Gallon from Get Strong physiotherapy explains why we shouldn’t underestimate the role of our big toes in running. 

We may be slightly late to the party, but it’s never too late to improve your running with our ten New Year’s Resolutions for Runners. Enjoy!

1. Start running

Fauja Singh, 107, of London, took up running aged 89 and earned a place in the record books as the first centenarian and oldest person to ever complete a marathon. He ran the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in eight hours, 25 minutes and 16 seconds. Aged 100 he also set eight world age records including running the 5K in 49:57.39. There are similarly impressive world records in existence for every ‘veteran’ age group from 35 to 100.

Shin splints are one of the more common injuries that often affect beginner runners or more experienced runners coming back from a lay-off.

There are different types of shin splints and the causes may be structural or induced.

An anterolateral shin splint affects the front and outer part of the muscles and a posteromedial shin splint affects the back and inner part of the muscles of the shin.

Symptoms include:

Plantar Fasciitis or heel pain is a common injury which can often blight runners and prevent them from training for months on end. It is also a common injury for non runners who are on their feet a lot.

Symptoms

At Sporting Feet we believe that having correctly fitted, well cushioned and supportive shoes is essential, to help reduce the risk of pain and injury, no matter your chosen sport.

This philosophy is arguably even more important for our children’s school shoes because their bones, muscles and tendons are continually undergoing change as their feet grow a full shoe size per year from age 5 until their mid-teens.

A pair of socks is a pair of socks. Right? Not anymore. Even a pair of socks can have technology built in to it to improve athletic performance. 

Have you ever noticed the fancy wall of socks whenever you step into a specialist sports store? Do you feel they are just a gimmicky add-on accessory? We think this response is understandable, especially when they are double the price of a conventional cotton sock but hear us out. 

So the training is going well. You are steadily building up the mileage, keeping those annoying niggles at bay and have mastered the art of anti-chaff cream. But you are starting to find you are severely flagging at certain points of the day and that energetic joy towards a Sunday run is not what it used to be. With the increased training load you will start to require not just a higher calorie intake but a more mineral rich selection. So where do you start? What are the myths and facts about certain foods? How do you know what’s right for you?

Our latest blog is brought to you by our valued partner, The Avenue Cookery School in Wandsworth.