Boy this is really going to sound dumb. ( I know there are no dumb questions Just dumb people asking questions - but this one still sounds dumb) But yes as the subject line is asking how do you run. And no I dont mean you literally I mean what are the steps or actions of running.
So why am I asking this. Yesterday was my first Run/walk with running shoes. I did not have my orthodics in them since they fealt really good. But I was paying much closer attention to what my feet were doing. At some point I though him what if I spring off my toes. WOW I seemed to move alot better, but my toes and associated tendons could only keep this up for a few striads. So that got me thinking what are my feet suppose to be doing am I suppose to spring or launch off my toes, should I be working them into shape to or is this just wrong. I have noticed these shoes have the outside of my right foot on the ground more I travel from heal to toes via the outer part of my foot not the ball of my foot anymore (I think this is correct).
If you are brand new to this stuff and it sounds like you are you are worried about the wrong thing.
Worry about just getting your base in. Don’t worry about how far you go or how fast. Just put in the time and the distance and speed will come. Once you have an adequate base, where you can run, without stopping, for 10 miles or so, and feel good at the end, thenyou can start worrying a little about technique.
Frank has a lot more experience than I do, but I would respectfully disagree in part. I agree that you should concentrate on getting base milage in. Be very conservative to avoid injury. Depending on how new you are, your aerobic conditioning will come on pretty quick, but your bones, tendons and ligaments will take a much longer time. You can litterally out run your body and spend more time trying to get healthy. Given that, I would say you should be looking at form now, because once you have some locked into the neuromuscular pathways, it is time consuming and hard to change. Try some different things along the way to see what works best and feels right. (We are all different so one way doesn’t work for us all.) Big thing now is the Pose method; some swear by it others swear at it. For me, I tend to land on my forefoot with the heel just barely touching. Took a long time for my calves to strenthen enough to run long with limping around for a couple of days. I’m sure a couple of the coaches will weigh in on this. For me, I would recommend to stand tall, stay as relaxed as possible, limit cross body movement and, most of all, just get out there and run/walk. Before you know it you will be a runner all of the time.
This isn’t specifically related to running, but when I walk (and this is going to sound dumb) if I can remember to do this, I’ll usually concentrate on pushing off with every step. I do this when I walk alone and I’m bored. You should feel like you want to spring forward, but don’t actually spring off.
When I run the only thing I concentrate is the movement of my hands, and sometimes I try to land more on the middle of my foot instead of my heel.
From a chi running point of view, you do not spring off your toes, you simply lift your feet. But to also incorporate earlier posts the best way to run well (with good form) is to run long (hence Frank’s recomendation on base miles). If you are already running well, you should probably just keep running and nature will teach you to run right.
Disclosure: I was/am a chi running student. Before it I was unable to run a mile, and it was very useful for me. As time has gone on, many more lessons have come just by running for a few hours…
Thanks for the input. I have ordered the Chi running from the librarly. As for running an hour uhh well lets try minutes. If I start off I can put less than 1/2 mile in running (about 5-6 minutes) then walk alot and put in a few 2 minute runs while walking fast. Doing this for about 30 min. The new shoes are deffinetly helping but new muscles are being worked which is limiting me.
You’ve gotten essentially two responses in this thread: 1)Using forefoot strike and pushoff results in a much more natural, efficient, and healthy running form; and 2)Don’t worry about form so much right now, just go out and run. I agree with both sentiments.
Slowman wrote a good article about this dilema a few months back called “The High Cost of Good Form”, and it’s worth re-reading. If you do a forum search on “forefoot strike” or “Nike Free” or “POSE” you’ll find a number of threads that talk about developing a running form where the ball of your foot is the first to touch the ground, and you propel yourself forward by pushing off with your calf and pulling up your leg at the same time.
However, running that way uses muscles that most Americans and Europeans don’t develop because we spend most of our lives in shoes, landing on our heels first when we walk. So you have to develop some strength in your lower legs in order to sustain good running form. But the only way (well, the best way) to develop that strength is by running, which necessarily means running with imperfect form. Slowman’s article addressed this chicken and egg problem by saying, essentially: Suck it up and run, but try to run well. The more you run while trying to run well, the more you’ll actually be able to run well. If you want to get more sophisticated about it, you can intersperse shorter “form” workouts and longer “endurance” workouts with different emphasis, but in the end there’s really no better way to train for running than to go out and run, giving yourself a reasonable amount of time to recover, then running again.
Lee Silverman
JackRabbit Sports
Park Slope, Brooklyn
The important thing is you keep doing it. Time will take care of everything if you pu the work in.
Couldn’t agree more. You are starting to run the way I did. After a while you will just find walking too slow! This game is all about consistancy, a lesson I am trying to get much better at myself. And do not ever give up, you’ll get there and you’ll feel like a million bucks when you do!