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Do we pamper ourselves too much this day and age?
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Slugsta - I don't know of any useful stats to support or disprove that, but I reckon there are probably a higher proportion of barefoot runners in Africa than there are in the West. I don't think that they have any physical enhancements that make it easier for them to do it though, so it must be down to different technique.
There was also a video gait analysis of the top 100 runners at one Olympics which showed they all ran off their forefoot.
Perhaps leg length discrepency and other physical differences from the norm are magnified by poor technique. Or taken another way, learning a different running technique may have a much greater and more reliable effect in mitigating such problems than cushioned shoes and orthotics could ever hope to.
Ultra-ironwolf... I'm no doctor, but does your condition mean you need good shoes to reduce the impact and irregularities in your gait? If changing your technique reduces both more effectively, for less money, would that be better?
Unless you have a hangover.
Like I did.
What about running clothing? I don't mean skins or anything, but the 'base layers' and long-sleeve t's, and the waterproof jackets that cost £120! To me, a waterproof jacket does not need to cost more than £20. It doesn't make me run faster, or feed me, or motivate me. All it should do is stop the snow from freezing my limbs off.
And when I go to Aldi they're £7.99.
Basically, running seems to suffer from both 'branding' and from 'gadgetry', which means the companies can whack the prices up, release a new 'version' every two months and people seem to pay. I'm not saying I dislike running clothing, because a ventilated t-shirt is much more pleasant than a baggy cotton one when you're running and it's either raining or soaked with sweat. But a t-shirt is a t-shirt, and prices surely shouldn't vary from £5 to £40 ish for what is the same thing?!
Sorry, it's a friday, I want to rant
I use running clothes simply because most other stuff I own is terrible for chafing.
I used normal ex-cheap sports bra's for YEARS to play squash and do karate and play on the bikes in the gym and run maybe for about 45minutes.
Suddenly, I cranked up my running and my chest chafed something chronic. I now paid £29 per bra and bought 3 of them. I also bought HH base layers because I overheat in cotton and it also chafes under my arms...