Runners are prone to injury; we overtrain by increasing our weekly mileage too fast or sticking to a training plan instead of taking an extra day off. We’re devoted—which isn’t always a good thing.
Training for the 2014 Boston Marathon, I had disillusioned myself into thinking that I’d attain a PR by running eight miles a day, five days a week, plus a long run. But it left me feeling like I was walking on broken glass every time I got out of bed. This telltale sign of plantar fasciitis had me turn to orthotics. My quest for pain relief involved testing several insoles, scrunching towels with my toes, and massaging my arches with a bottle of frozen water. The pain eventually disappeared, but the whole experience left an indelible mark on my sole, er, soul.
Fast-forward almost a decade and we’re in a new age of orthotics, with budget-friendly customization that doesn’t require a visit to a podiatrist’s office. The age of 3D foot scanners and heat-molded insoles hath come.
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But, which insoles are right for you? Should runners use them? To find out, I chatted with orthotics brands Superfeet and FootBalance about their products, and the Spaulding National Running Center, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for a physician’s take on whether insoles are truly beneficial for runners.
When Comfort Is Underrated
Superfeet got its footing in 1977, as a sports medicine division of the Northwest Podiatric Laboratory, with a simple mission: make your shoes more comfortable.
According to Matt Gooch, Superfeet’s vice president of product and innovation, who I spoke with on a video call, the top two reasons runners use insoles are to treat plantar fasciitis—“whether it’s actually plantar fasciitis or not,” he said—and to relieve foot fatigue, i.e., “that achy feeling that so many people feel at the end of the day.”
To explain how Superfeet’s insoles are helpful for runners, he used an electrical plug adapter analogy.
“If you’ve ever been to Europe, you take your little bag of adapters, because the different plugs have different wattages and different shapes that you have to plug into so you don’t fry your smartphone,” he said. “That’s really what Superfeet provides: the ability to adapt to any shoe and make it more personal so that it can fit and feel better, and so that you, as an individual, can function better.”
Superfeet’s line of almost 30 products includes gender- and activity-specific insoles. The Run Comfort and Run Pain Relief insoles have a carbon-fiber- and polymer-based heel cap, which promotes responsiveness and provides support. The Run Pain Relief insole is specifically designed to provide plantar fasciitis relief, and has a removable heel stabilizer, which adds structure and support to minimize the repetitive stress you experience from running.
Superfeet also sells customized insoles, using 3D scanning and heat molding. I experienced the heat-molding process firsthand the day before the Chicago Marathon at the race’s expo, where another insole brand, FootBalance, had a booth set up.
Breaking the Mold
FootBalance was founded in 2007 by Erkki Hakkala, a Finnish physiotherapist who specializes in podiatry. Its custom insoles (pre-molded ones are available as well) start flat out of the box. When you heat them, a piece of thermoplastic softens to mold into the shape of your foot.
“Traditional orthotics are really rigid and expensive,” said Nina Arponen, senior marketing manager. “When you go to a podiatrist and they start making the orthotics, it might take four weeks before you have them. Hakkala invented a solution that is fast and affordable, and that can help people enjoy better foot health.”
At the Chicago expo, I stepped onto a 3D scanning device, which measured the length and width of my foot, as well as arch height, foot alignment, and ball dimensions.
Besides Superfeet and FootBalance, other brands, such as Aetrex, also have 3D scanners stationed at running specialty stores that provide foot measurements as well as in-store shoe recommendations that fit your profile. Arponen noted that 3D scanning isn’t supposed to replace shoe store associates’ intel, but it can help with inconsistencies. One personal example: All my life, shoe store associates told me I was flat-footed. It would take 10 years of 3D foot scanning development for me to discover that they were all wrong.
While these scanners are more accurate than human analysis, one caveat of the customization process is the need for a physical foot scanner and oven to mold the insoles. Superfeet and FootBalance provide store locators on their websites to help you find 3D scanners, but this can be inconvenient when there isn’t a scanner nearby. An even broader issue is whether insoles are truly beneficial to runners over time. I sought a second opinion at the Spaulding National Running Center. Read on for what I learned there.
Should Everyone Wear Insoles?
“It’s not one size fits all,” said Adam Tenforde, MD, the Spaulding specialist, by phone. “There’s really been a move toward not recommending orthotics, across the table, for all injuries with the goal to really optimize foot strength and function, as opposed to using orthotics as a long-term strategy to try to correct individuals’ foot architecture.”
Tenforde suggested that runners view insoles as a short-term fix.
“Think of orthotics as something that could provide some initial pain relief, perhaps allow the person to train for an event,” he said. “But if you’re not actually addressing the strained mobility deficits at the foot and ankle, and not looking at the full kinetic chain, then you may be doing that patient a disservice. The orthotic may take stress off of the injured tissue, but now it’s going to apply new stresses to other parts of the body.”
The human foot has 26 bones, 32 joints, six degrees of freedom, and four layers of muscles to make up the arch of the foot, Tenforde explained. Using orthotics could potentially lead to secondary injuries or even weaken your foot’s muscles due to lack of use. It’s best to employ strengthening exercises in your routine to prevent injury during training, said Tenforde. In short, think of orthotics as a Band-Aid.
What to Know About Insoles
- Gradually ease into them. When I tested FootBalance’s insoles at the Chicago expo, I was advised not to wear them during the race, which was the next day. Like a good runner who doesn’t try anything new on race day, I stuck with my shoes’ original sockliners. Besides alleviating foot discomfort, Arponen said, insoles affect your kinetic chain, changing the position of your feet and posture.
- Take out your shoe’s insole first. This may sound like a no-brainer, but when I was new to the insole game, it took me a couple of weeks before someone told me I was supposed to remove my shoes’ original insoles instead of layering the new orthotic on top of them.
- Never put them in the dryer. And if your insoles are heat-molded, don’t immerse them in water—use a damp cloth to clean them.
- The shelf-life of orthotics is one year or 500 miles. But use your best judgment to determine when it’s time for new ones. Like running shoes, you may go through a pair of insoles faster than other runners. Arponen also notes your feet can change with age and life events, such as pregnancy, causing you to need a new pair.
Three Strengthening Exercises for Runners
Calf raise // Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Lift up onto your heels, maintaining pressure on the balls of your feet. Avoid rolling to the outside of your feet. Lift as high as you can while maintaining balance. Pause, then slowly lower your heels on a count of 3 to 5. Repeat. Do 10 reps. This helps to build calf strength.
Foot dome // Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Press your toes downward while keeping your heel planted to create an arch or dome in the midfoot. Hold for a second, then relax. Repeat. Do 10 reps. “This engages the medial arch and four layers of muscles that are thought to play a role in the foot core,” said Tenforde.
Single-leg balance // Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Bend your right knee, lifting your foot off the floor. Drive your left foot into floor. Maintain an upright posture and level hips. Hold for 10 to 30 seconds. Repeat on other side. “When I ask many runners to balance on one foot, they find it’s a lot more challenging than they expected,” said Tenforde.
Amanda is a test editor at Runner’s World who has run the Boston Marathon every year since 2013; she's a former professional baker with a master’s in gastronomy and she carb-loads on snickerdoodles.
