Are you running correctly? Do you wear running shoes? - Page 2

uh-oh... looks like we've got an "evolution skeptic" on our hands...

Also check out the information on the pose running technique. The basic idea is that you should land on the midfoot, with the supporting muscles flexed, and then kind of pick your foot up off the ground (with your hamstrings). It's helped me reduce my times and my injuries. Heavy heel striking now feels really unnatural to me.

It sounds like the pose technique of running. I used to run the old heel to toe style. pose is much MUCH better. No joint soreness, zero injuries, less fatigue. I'll never run heel to toe again. period.

The theory behind barefoot running is that the foot is the part of your body best designed to absorb shock while running. By running barefoot, you're strengthening the crucial shock absorbers, and relieving stress on the ankles, knees and hips. The thick-soled running shoes so many people use have been surmised by many physiologists recently to actually encourage more injuries to these other joints. If you want to just try the barefooting, but you don't have 1-inch callouses covering your feet, or a beautiful strip of soft soil/grass nearby, you can also strap on some thin-soled sprinting shoes. They have very little padding, and will help you get the same foot-muscle conditioning. When running, not sprinting, the foot naturally strikes the ground heel/midfoot first. It's virtually impossible to run any other way (this is NOT the same as sprinting, where you use the balls of your feet and toes as the primary springs to accelerate quickly.) Don't go out and try something as unnatural as running without letting your heel or midfoot hit the ground first. This will lead you to suffer some injury. Even when coaches say, 'run on the balls of your feet,' they're simply emphasizing you don't dig your heels in, which can be hard on you. But overcompensating by trying to run on your toes can be hard, too. Ultimately, you want to learn to run most naturally. You want to learn better running technique, I highly recommend the Feldenkrais Method. A couple of classes geared towards running, plus some minimal shorter runs, you'll be breezing around and feeling like a gazelle. It'll also do wonders for minimizing the stress on your joints. I ran all through high school, college, and more, and I took a class a few years ago. I realized how much effort I had been wasting in bad/inefficient form. It teaches you to run a lot more with your shoulders, hips and core muscles. Here's the class I took to give you an idea: http://www.balancedrunner.com/ The POSE system also looks intriguing.

Sartorian raise some good points. There is no point forcing yourself to run on the balls of your feet esp if your speed is just 11km/h. Many short female Japanese marathon runners use midfoot striking method, but they run much quicker and have a very fast turnover rate. Btw, there are some NB shoes out there that specifically cater for midfoot striking runners.



Round Heel Unique heel design for midfoot strike running

One other point: I was doing some training, and working on breaking down my stride, and many coaches talk about the importance of focusing on the pulling motion, rather than the pushing off motion. This forces you to emphasize your hamstring strength, which really increases your per-stride power. I've been doing a lot of hamstring stretches, as I have ridiculously stiff hamstrings, and it's making me realize how much that alone can increase your power in your stride.

I honestly dont believe any of the newer theories about forefoot striking, or running while kicking back hard and high. Running is a natural motion. Little kids run without any thought towards proper form. 99% of them run striking the heel first unless they are sprinting. When sprinting, 99% of them strike the forefoot first. this is natural. There are a few people who run better either landing forefoot first or nearly flat footed, but this is very very few and they already know who they are. Watch the olympic marathon, these guys take the first mile out in 4:20-4:30 and they never go over 5 min a mile. 99% of them are heel striking. For world class athletes, anything above 800M is run heel striking, anything under 800M is on the balls. Anyway its fine to discuss the theories, I dare you to go out and try it. Someone who runs 30 miles week, try running forefoot. I guarantee you will switch back.

^^^ Honestly, I don't agree. And I think part of the problem is that a lot of people--even experienced runners--also feel that midfoot striking is some unnatural, theoretical invention. Heel striking is virtually impossible without cushioning in a shoe...so how could it be "natural", given that such shoes have only been around for a generation or so?

Also, I'm not sure about your observations. I never see kids landing on their heels unless they've been taught to do that. Have you really seen this? And saying that, for world class athletes, "anything over 800m is heelstriking" is simply not true. There is a difference between a forefoot sprinter and a 5k midfoot striker, but neither of them land on their heels.

I'm not saying it will work for everybody; I'm saying it's worth checking out.

It does make sense. Landing heel first, your body has no mechanism to absorb the shock of landing...except for what's in a shoe. And almost every heel-striker I've ever run with or seen running has the same problem: their foot is moving forward as it strikes the ground.

And as for your dare: I've been running either barefoot or in minimal-support shoes for over two years now, landing on my midfoot, and have dropped my 5k time to under 20 minutes for the first time since I was 22. And no injuries. I won't go back.

Like any self taught technique (thinking of natural self defense reactions, etc) the older we get the more we tend to be influenced by the "thinkers" out there who theorize on the proper way to do this and that. I've never taken a class on running and have watched some real basic sprinting technique vids that focused on standing upright in the sprint....I run just fine and sprint a 100m in 12 seconds...I figure that ain't bad. Why over analyze? I couldn't tell you how my feet fall when I run...I guess they fall bottom side down? Why complicate things.... I'm kind of interested in the running barefoot thing though. I'll have to check those out. Also, to the OP, you'll notice a huge difference in running on a treadmill and running outside anywhere....night and day.

I tried pose once I heard that triathletes were giving it a whirl. It was fine, once I got through the adjustment. However, one of my feet flared up with a stress rx and after dickering around a bit, I went back to heel. Had the rx not come up, I would probably have stuck with pose. If you have the durability to absorb the shock in your feet you'll probably like it. iirc, I think pose method prefers lower-heel shoes, like racing flats.

I do lean forward and kick the heels up now, and my times don't suck too bad. We'll see how it's coming together when the racing season comes around.

What type of low support shoes do you recommend??

Try roadrunnersports.com - I have a pair of adidas supernova racers, but doubt they're still around. If you're landing forefoot as in pose, I doubt pronation should be an issue since the heel doesn't bear much weight and thus doesn't roll inwards, so any flat should do.

asics adidas, puma should all be winners. I think Nike makes their heels too high (relative to forefoot) and I avoid them for that reason.

Keep in mind bare feet evolved in an environment that was more forgiving without sidewalks or paved paths. So its not just what you have on your feet to consider but what those feet are impacting against as well.