Where I'm coming from: 61 years old, 5'10", 158#, almost rehab'ed from a moderate (no bruising) calf strain on Sept 14.
just prior to the above injury, I decided to add strides once per week and in hindsight I think they made a contribution to my injury.
My understanding is that strides are short runs at 90% speed, say 100 meters. To do that I ran them on the balls of my feet whereby I could take my final quarter mile speed in a 5k race from a 7:15 pace to a 6:15 pace. But these 6 x 100m strides I ran were not part of a 5k, just strides ran after a 10 minute warm-up and spaced with 100 meter walks (sorry, did I confuse everything?)
In the back of my mind, I think I was emulating the 67 year-old who blew me away in a 400 meter race a few months ago. He was wearing track spikes and I was wearing regular distance running shoes. I can remember from high school if I didn't run on the balls of my feet in track spikes - - a mid-strike would hurt the rest of my foot bc there was/is no padding for the entire sole like there is in running shoes. So I concluded that this old guy had no problem running on the balls of his feet while I was punishing my calves as I did so.
So is it actually more difficult for your calves to keep you up on the balls of your feet if you are NOT wearing track-spike shoes? Could that increased slippage challenge your calves and make them vulnerable? (My calves were definitely sore after that 400 m race but the injury did not happen until 2 days later in a 3 mile easy run at a 9:00 pace.)
I would like to strengthen my calves to lessen the chance of calf re-injury. I have just incorporated a few exercises to do so. But should running strides be part of my workouts? And what running form should I use to run strides? (I can't see wearing track spikes for these workouts). TIA.
just prior to the above injury, I decided to add strides once per week and in hindsight I think they made a contribution to my injury.
My understanding is that strides are short runs at 90% speed, say 100 meters. To do that I ran them on the balls of my feet whereby I could take my final quarter mile speed in a 5k race from a 7:15 pace to a 6:15 pace. But these 6 x 100m strides I ran were not part of a 5k, just strides ran after a 10 minute warm-up and spaced with 100 meter walks (sorry, did I confuse everything?)
In the back of my mind, I think I was emulating the 67 year-old who blew me away in a 400 meter race a few months ago. He was wearing track spikes and I was wearing regular distance running shoes. I can remember from high school if I didn't run on the balls of my feet in track spikes - - a mid-strike would hurt the rest of my foot bc there was/is no padding for the entire sole like there is in running shoes. So I concluded that this old guy had no problem running on the balls of his feet while I was punishing my calves as I did so.
So is it actually more difficult for your calves to keep you up on the balls of your feet if you are NOT wearing track-spike shoes? Could that increased slippage challenge your calves and make them vulnerable? (My calves were definitely sore after that 400 m race but the injury did not happen until 2 days later in a 3 mile easy run at a 9:00 pace.)
I would like to strengthen my calves to lessen the chance of calf re-injury. I have just incorporated a few exercises to do so. But should running strides be part of my workouts? And what running form should I use to run strides? (I can't see wearing track spikes for these workouts). TIA.