Overpronate too much?

[Jennifer Schmidt]

Thankfully, I am not injured, but I am concerned about a problem that I have had for quite a while that could lead to an injury. 

First of all, I do overpronate and I wear Nike Zoom Structure Triax (formerly Air Structure Triax) with the Superfeet insert, which are supposed to help.  I have been running in this make and model for years with no problems.  When I run either on the treadmill (for at least 5 miles or so) or am running fast for a decent amount of time , my right leg seems to be turning in more than normal ( I have noticed that when I am seated with my legs extended that my right leg, below the knee, leans in more than the left leg does).  When this happens, it almost feels as though I am losing feeling to a point where I have come close to tripping.  This happened at my last half marathon on Halloween.  I had a great day, but during mile 10, the feeling kicked in and I didn't feel as though I could run as fast as I wanted to.  I tried to correct my leg, which eventually led to my knee hurting a bit during those final miles ( I mentioned this on that blog).  This also happened during my last 10k, especially during those last few hundred yards, where I tried to run with everything I had, I couldn't believe that I didn't trip.  It is kind of a scary feeling, because I really feel as though one incorrect step and the ankle will be broken.  I have noticed that when I slow down to a walk, my leg feels normal again.  I have added walk breaks every couple of miles or so while running on the treadmill to lessen the feeling from occurring.  I have googled overpronation and have found nothing that relates and was wondering if anyone has experienced this.  Who knows, maybe I was put together a little crooked.  I haven't sought any medical assistance just yet.

Thanks for reading this and for the input.

[Sasha Pachev]

Jennifer:

Something somewhere is out of balance. A lot of times, that something might be very difficult to figure out. It is easy to spend a fortune seeking professional help because the professional will quickly notice something that is wrong, but it will turn out to be either a red herring or a consequence of a deeper problem. But he still charges you for his time.

One thing you can do is trial and error. Try various easy-to-self-administer strength and flexibility tests, and for the ones you are failing, try corrective exercises. Then once those weaknesses are corrected see if that fixed your stride.

It also may be a good idea of post a video of yourself running and gather some feedback as to why you might be running like this.

Chances are, however, that if you have run for a while and have not yet been injured, your body has gotten pretty good at working around the problem. So as far as the risk of injury, I would not worry too much. On the other hand, if you fixed the problem you would run faster.