Jogging form question

So, a simple question, which I guess might be IMHO.

When jogging, is it better to land on my heels and roll forward or land on the balls of my feet? The latter feels a bit more comfortable, but I’ve been warned that I can mess up my ankles this way. Right now I just jog around the block, but I’d eventually like to work my way back up to doing 3 mile runs like I did 4 or 5 years ago when I was in high school.

This can vary widely from runner to runner. Do whatever you’re comfortable with and when it comes time to get new shoes, take your old ones to an actually RUNNING shoe store. The clerk will be able to check out how you’ve been running and recommend a shoe that will accomodate your running stance. In your case, probably more padding at the ball.

I’m no expert, obviously, but I always had a hard time running more than 5 or 6 miles because my feet and legs got so uncomfortable. After going to a professional running store and consulting with the clerk about the right shoe, I could run 8-10 miles right away. It makes a huge, huge difference.

Gently rock your body weight, starting by landing on the heel, then gently rolling the foot forward, rocking off the ball of the foot. For a gentle stride, limit strife length to no more than the width of your hip-to-hip span. Keep your feet low to the ground.

If you do it correctly, your field of vision won’t “shock” noticably as you run.

Or not…

My natural running stride is to land on my heel and roll forward, but my podiatrist doesn’t believe me and says that everyone runs by landing on the ball of the foot; she says it’s bad for the foot to land on the heel. Which doesn’t make sense to me, frankly.

When I used to be a sprinter I ran on the balls of my feet, and my shoes only had spikes on the ball/toe portion of the sole. But for jogging and long distance running? I use the whole foot. Anything else feels unnatural.

I tend to run on the balls of my feet, even for longish distances (6-10 miles, haven’t run farther than that). It’s more comfortable for me.

The upshot is that usually I prefer less shoe-padding–if it weren’t for the soles of my feet getting torn up by the running surface, I’d be perfectly happy going barefoot.