Hi

I am new here and looking for some advice really.

I am going to start running in the new year (a resolution) . However, I battle with my ankles which are fairly weak and tend to give way under me every now and then so I need to know which trainer would possibly be the best for me to use?

I have been on the Millets Sports site - Online Sports Equipment Supplier to view their range of women's trainers but
can't decide which brand to go for as I don't which has more support.

Any advice or suggestions would be most welcome.

Thanks
Shereen

Hi there and welcome to the mad world of RF and running!

The best advice is that you should go to a running shop near you and get a running shoe that suits your feet. The guys/gals in the shop will be runners and will have plenty of experience in fitting people with the correct shoe.

Getting the right shoe is most important so you should expect to pay a fair sum but it is worth it in the long, ahem, excuse the pun, run!

Next I would advise finding a friendly local running club to join.

Why wait for New Year...start now!!!

All the best!

Welcome Shereen,
Weak ankles can often be associated with overpronation - pronation is when the foot rolls inwards during walking or running and is a natural part of the bodies shock absorption system. In about 70% of the population the foot overpronates ie rolls inwards but does not roll back out fully.

Have you noticed if you are slightly flat footed - the wet foot test can give an indication of this. However Steve has given you the best advice and that is to go to your local running shop, take an old pair of trainers if you have any and tell them about your ankles and any other problems you have. It also doesn't hurt to get a little bit clued up about running shoes as well - there are some good reviews at www.runnersworld.co.uk.

Good luck and happy running.

I would also do some ankle strengthening exercises as well - a wobble board is great for this.
However if you do not have a board this is a good one:
Stand facing a wall with back and legs straight, make sure you are one foots (things at end of legs) distance from the wall.
Bend knees so they lightly touch the wall and straighten
Bend knees to left so they touch wall
Repeat on the other side
I usually do this about 5 or 10 times - its supposed to mimic the action of the ankles during running.

Do you know any "little gits"?!!!

Hi Shereen Welcome to the forum

Quite right Steve why wait for the New Year start now...

A good website for clothing etc is Startfitness.co.uk or sweatshop.co.uk but compare prices as they can vary, once you know what type of shoes you need you should find things a bit cheaper here as well.

Good luck

Hi Steve,
I know some big ones as well

Well you can't leave it at that...dish the dirt!!

A woman of discretion never kisses and tells.

But can a woman of discretion be fickle when it suits?!

As long as she doesn't kiss and tell. Had much experience of fickle women?

Hi Shereen,

The guys above don't mention the most important thing (to me, at any rate) about going to a proper running shop: most of these shops do a personal gait analysis of your running style (e.g. they ask you to run on a treadmill in their store whilst videoing your feet). They then talk through these results with you to let you know if you under or overpronate or whether you're neutral, etc. etc. This advice they give is absolutely invaluable for choosing the right shoe for you.

If you don't know your local running stores near you, then ask this forum again. By giving us an idea of what city/town you shop in, there will probably be someone here who can tell you the best shop for your local area. I know that I had no idea what sort of shops to look for, and not having grown up in this country, I also didn't know what the shop names were. People on this forum soon helped me out.

Actually Karen the first thing Steve said was to advise Shereen to go to her local running shop.

What I meant was the bit about the gait analysis - I found that to be the most useful thing for me when I started running. Gave me a lot of confidence.

Faire enough but not every running shop offers video gait analysis and some even charge for it.