this may sound stupid, but when running, how do you go from being a heel striker to landing on the midfoot?
This is an interesting (and not stupid) question which seems to come up a lot. There is a lot of debate about this. I know some people advocate using the pose method or possibly running in racing flats or lightweight trainers with no built up heel to force you to strike midfoot (it is very hard to heel strike with no built up heel – try running barefoot, you will see what I mean).
On the other hand, why bother? Some people think this will make you faster and less injury prone. Yet, there was a great picture (wish I could find it now) from the olympic marathon trials back in Feb, where Alan Culpepper, Meb, and someone else are running three abreast, and all three are clearly heel striking. If 2:10 marathoners heel strike, then I’m not terribly worried about speed vis-a-vis heelstriking.
My advice: run as many miles as you can, in the best shoe you can find.
thanks, that’s basically what I was really wondering
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I agree with Peter, run however you feel like it. Just make sure the shoe fits. As for an answer to the question, doesn’t the POSE method change you into a mid-foot striker?
I concur.
There are VERY VERY few elite runners that tinker with, or have tinkered with their running styles.
I know that Gordo advocates running with “baby steps” in Going Long. In other words, shorten your stride a bit.
practice running barefoot, shorten your stride, and try to run level instead of bouncing up and down. heel striking may be faster temporarily, but is inherently bad for you and sends nasty shockwaves up your body that damage your joints over time. learn to run midfoot, which will make a slower temporarily, then you’ll get fast at it and then you’ll be able to run longer (both distance and longer in life without injuries).
I’ve had great success this season with the following:
- used a metronome in the off/early season to get my cadence up to 90 at all times. I think my high was 95 for 6 miles. I tried to keep the pace medium the entire time.
- Focus on staying upright with just a small amount of forward lean.
- Focus on relaxing and no bouncing, no up & down motion.
- Add some arm drive (personal weakness)
The above effectively turned me into a mid foot striker and it looks like it took off 20" per mile at 1/2 IM pace for the same RPE. Don’t know for certain about the speed, I’ll know for certain in 9 days.
make sure your feet are under your body when landing. it’s hard to be a mid foot striker if your feet are landing way out in front.
if you look at wear patterns of typical midfoot strikers the landing wear on the shoes tends to be at the front of the heel wedge not the back.
My coach had me work on this over the winter/spring. It is one of the first comments that he made about my stride. His emphasis about landing more on top of my feet has had less to do about the shock on my body and more about it being less efficient to carry yourself over your foot after it lands far in front of you.
I have really long legs and in the past tried to use that to my advantage by reaching out with my stride. We have found that I can have the same effective stride length by landing on top of my foot and using my hamstrings/glutes more to push off with my leg behind me, but without the ‘brake’ effect that I got when I stretched my leg out in the front. It is more efficient, so with the same level of effort I am now running faster.
I think that ‘heel strike’ is a bit of a generic term. I think that how much (how hard?) you strike on your heel is important. Even with my feet more under me than in the past I still hit with my heel first, but the transition to the rest of my foot is much sooner. In the past my heel was smashing into the ground and the rest of the foot would kinda flop down to catch up.
I not the fastest guy in the world (by any means) but I did take a good two minutes off of my 5k time over the winter (from 23:51 in October to a 21:56 in February.)
Happy runnin’!!
from what i hear, if you’re heel-stiking you’re most likely over-striding - hence shorten the stride. Also, if you focus on running “lightly” w/ feet on the ground a minimum time you’ll have to move the strike point forward on your foot. lastly, my most recent pair of trainers (mizuno’s), have a cupped heel surface - if i run heel first i sound like a horse cip-clopping along. i’ve focused on running “quietly” in them and i have become much more of a mid-foot runner.
Read Programmed to Run, Thomas Miller. But, it is suffice to say that this post is on point.
The book changed my biomechanics severely and saved me from years of IT band injuries.
there anywhere online to get racing flats or at least do some research? I went to Niketown.com but they only have one pair, that by description sounded like a lightweight trainer not a flat.
and why do they have to make flats in the most obnoxious colors anyone could ever think of? how about white with a blue accent instead of chartreuse or neon orange. just a thought.
When I want to look up shoes to compare I go to www.roadrunnersports.com
jaretj
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I went with the POSE method last October…changed to a midfoot striker. One big change and maybe what helped most was the awareness of where my feet were landing in relation to my knees. With my feet coming down roughly under my knees there is less breaking action since I don’t overstride anymore. I have noticed less soreness and small nagging problems that might have led to injuries have gone away.
The physiology and science types may skewer me on this. I have no scientific training. I did put in years of track and cross-country in HS and college.
I think we can run faster by becoming midfoot strikers. The key is shortening the time that your foot spends on the ground. With a heel strike the foot must roll all the way from heel to toe before pushing off. With a midfoot strike the “roll” time and distance is much shorter. The key to becoming a midfoot striker may be in developing higher turnover or cadence with a shorter stride.
Free book: “Running Fast and Injury Free”, by Gordon Pirie.
Is it a question of reducing the time that your foot spends on the ground, or is it a question of where the energy is directed while the foot is on the ground for the same period of time. My coach has me stretching my hip flexors to try and increase my range of motion so my leg will be able to go further back during push off. I am pretty sure that it needs to go further back while contacting the ground because sticking your leg in the air behind you doesn’t really do anything (except to tone and firm your buns grin).
I was taught that there should be no push off with the trailing foot. You should just pick it up and put it on the ground right under your hips. To go faster you lean forward and keep falling on your feet. I think that is the pose method. As for sticking your leg in the air behind you, some people believe that by lifting you foot higher you reduce the length of the leg to swing forward and save a bit of energy doing it. Maybe some of the good runners here can confirm or disscredit that.
jaretj