Athletic success often depends on the little things we do when we train and compete. Hard training and talent will not win the game or the race if we forget the “little things” that often are the difference when equal competitors compete.
Coach Braz can tell you about the little things that make a difference. For this issue, I will tell you about a little thing that is so obvious that we can call it a big thing.
As a runner, I would develop pain in the inside of my right knee every 3 or 4 months. When the pain started, I would run the next day in hopes the pain would magically go away. It did not. I ran again the next day. And the day after. Pain still there and getting worse. My running life seemed over. I was in despair.
And then, HEY! This happens every 3 or 4 months and the pain goes away when I get a new pair of running shoes. I pronate slightly, which puts extra impact on the inside of my knees. So I wear running shoes designed to compensate for this pronation. The shoes – all running shoes! – are good for only so many miles. It would take me 3 to 4 months to wear down the shoe’s arch enough to put more impact pressure on my knee and cause the pain. After 10 miles in new shoes the pain was gone.
But did I learn? Of course not. Decades of running with mysterious knee pain every 3 or 4 months, and a few days of despair before HEY. Need new shoes.
You don’t need to wait for pain to evaluate your athletic shoes. Unless your game is chess, your sport requires good shoes. It’s one of the big things.