Choose right gear to run marathon

New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) When you take part in marathons, it is important to wear the right functional running gear and not just focus on choosing the most fashionable one, says an expert.

Rajat Chauhan, adidas running expert and Race Director of La Ultra in India, has shared tips to make running easier:

• Running Shoes: Pronation is a term used very widely in running circles which is very important in picking the correct shoe for yourself. It is a natural movement for human beings to provide locomotion. In layman's terms, it is the degree to which your foot rolls inwards while running or walking.

  Look at the wear out of the sole of the shoes. In neutral runners, there will be equal wear on the inner and outer side of the sole of the shoe. Whereas in over-pronation, outside part of heel part of the shoes will wear out more than the inside, whereas when you look at the front part of the shoe, the inner aspect of the sole will wear out more than the outside aspect.

  If that is the case, the runner needs stability shoes like the supernova sequence boost, which provide a 'stableframe' to provide exactly this support.

  Squat test: Wear shorts, take your shoes off and face the mirror. Look at the medial arches of the feet. Are they flat or not? Now squat down all the way five to seven times. Now do five to seven single leg squats. Notice whether your feet roll in or not.

  If your feet and knees don't roll in, you are a neutral runner. You will need neutral shoes. If your feet and knees roll in excessively, you are an over-pronator, and you will need stability shoes.

• Video analysis: Ask a friend to video shoot your feet while you run away from the camera. When played in slow motion, it will show how much your feet roll in. The intent is to get shoes that will stop this movement from happening and get your feet to land and take off straight.

• Majority of runners can be catered to by self-tests mentioned above. If you are still confused, it is best to take professional help for proper video gait analysis.

  There are several models of neutral running shoes out there in the market, including the response boost - beginners should however steer clear of 'minimalist' shoes as they provide far lesser cushioning than someone with a typical gait would need. Also, with our sedentary lifestyle, we would need to extensively strength train before slipping into some of these.

• Running apparel: From minor ailments like chafing, to extreme ones like hyper-thermia can all be attributed to wearing the wrong gear while running.

  High Temperature or Humidity: It remains important to regulate body temperature, and even more so in sapping conditions like heat or humidity or both. What the body needs to do then, is shed heat rapidly to cool down and stay within the optimum temperature range, while wicking away moisture to ensure comfort and breathability to assist temperature management.

  Functional apparel containing ClimaChill tech, does the same - being a notch above traditional polyester-based clothing, and several notches above any natural fibre-based T-shirts and shorts.

  While cotton might be comfortable to wear for sedentary activities, it rapidly degrades performance in high heat and moisture - which running inevitably would lead to.

  As more and more sweat is produced, cotton tends to absorb the moisture and become heavier, while inter-fibre channels close down, hence the moisture cannot be transported to the surface to be''wicked away'.

  Low temperatures: In the cold, the requirements are even more demanding. While the body needs to retain the warmth, the need to shed moisture to keep temperature within optimum performance range, remains the same.

  This is done through cutting edge ClimaHeat tech which mimics the way a polar bear's fur has naturally evolved - being hollow to insulate the skin, while keeping the wicking property alive to shed moisture. It is wonderful how technology allows us to make no excuses to not train or run in any weather possible.