Ankle/shin soreness and worn shoe heel

[mbeveridge]

I'll kick this section off, then, to see how it works :

Symptoms: Slight soreness/niggle above outer left ankle joint, and the outer left heel on one (of my two) pair of shoes is 'heavily' worn (but most of the wear predates this niggle)

Background: Start of shin splints twice over the last couple of months (treated by Alex), but think they were both in the right leg. 'Little toe' blister on left foot affected (neutral) gait slightly for a couple of months, and gave me niggles (mostly) below outer left ankle joint for the last couple of weeks. Other problems, but gone after treatment this week. Ran ~40miles mostly steady/easy pace this week, spread over 5 days ...less mileage than the last couple of weeks. Alternating 2 pairs of the same shoes - 185miles on the worn pair and 85miles on the other, and I'd expect at least 400miles from a pair, that I've had before. Marathon in 3 weeks

Question: Could the worn heel now be causing the ankle/shin soreness (having been worn down by earlier problems)? This affects whether I carry on wearing that pair. Else do you have suggestions about what actions to take?

When you reply, can you also indicate to people what type of info they should give you for a diagnosis - I may have given too much/irrelevant, above

Thanks

[gph33k5]

Hi mate

Stepped up your training?
been doing any speed play?
Hills reps?
off road trails?
Been doing more than 30 / 40 miles a week?
ta

Giles

[gph33k5]

oh also
What shoe's are they?
Do you have rest days?

[mbeveridge]

My question isn't really about whether lots of running could cause this problem (it could), but whether I could avoid it by tossing the worn pair of shoes (even though they're pretty new). Is the worn heel causing ankle niggles or vice versa?

Mileage for the 5 weeks ended 30/3 was [42, 35, 44, 62, 44]. Normally spread over 5 or 6 days in a week and 1 or 2 sessions in a day. Nothing longer than ~10/12 miles in a day

Mostly flat and mostly steady pace, but some sessions had occasional hills or long intervals. One off-road session on 15/3. First made note of problem 29/3 after 6.5 mile easy run including some hills ...and wearing the shoes with worn heel. Other times also seem to have been with that pair of shoes (which may be coincidence). Other problems fixed by Alex shortly before me writing the question (except for niggle below left ankle), which is why I didn't want the shoes (rather than untreated muscles or tough sessions) to cause problems

Both pairs are Mizuno Wave Rider 12's. One or 2 rest days a week, and other days if I feel like it

Will be starting to taper in a couple of days and have got through it ok - think the niggles will lessen with the taper, but still interested

[mbeveridge]

[Will summarise what "gph33k5" told me in the shop, in case it's of use] :
"Because of the way the Wave Riders function, it's unlikely that the worn heel will have caused the problem. It sounds like the shoes are not providing enough cushioning [presumably this more-worn pair of WR's specifically?] and recommend that the newer pair is worn instead"

[From the osteopath I got the message (IIRC)] :
"A worn heel can cause the symptoms described, and recommend that the newer pair is worn instead"

Neither person saw the actual shoes, so I'm not trying to say that someone is right or wrong. Both said to stop wearing the older shoes, but too late for me to act on; and I've got through ok (carefully) and so have a fresher pair of new shoes for the race than I would have done (as I wouldn't also have had time to 'properly' break in a brand new pair for 100+ miles, if I wanted to)

So, conclusions for next time? : Nothing specific. If things had got worse I'd have cut back on mileage, stopped wearing the shoes, and taken them into the shop. This was more about seeing how the message board dealt with the topic, and I think the delay was because a number of people were on holiday