So, I’m a beginning runner. I’ve started with the C25K program (I’m in week 4) and I’m really excited to run and I absolutely am looking to make this a lifestyle. I’ve done lots of reading and have talked to quite a few people who run and have run for years which has convinced me that if I want to do it right, I should avoid heel strike running. In the past when I ran, I suffered knee pain and have sprained my right ankle.
Over the last few weeks, however, I’ve been focusing on trying to land midfoot and it seems I’m adapting to it quite well. I no longer land on my heel and I haven’t had any knee pain or ankle pain. My calves are a little sore after the run, but the soreness dissipates quickly. My ankles (particularly the right one that was sprained and reinjured last year) seem a lot stronger and my balance is improving with yoga and strength exercises on the Wii.
I’m interested in minimalist running, but I’m afraid and too vain to run completely barefoot. So, I’ve got the Vibram FiveFingers Bilkila on order. I am currently running in cushioning trainers that are pretty much done and the beefy heel does make midfoot strike challenging and I’m finding that I tend to lapse into sloppiness when I start to fatigue.
I found some vids on the Pose running technique and checked out posetech.com to learn more about it. I’ve been trying to do the drills demonstrated in this video, but apparently my balance is still bad and I can’t really tell for sure if I’m doing it right…well, I’m pretty certain I’m not, but I can’t tell what to change to make it easier to do it right. Should I be steadying myself by holding onto something while I’m doing it? Should I be doing more drills than what’s demo’d in the vid before my runs?
During my runs, the most crucial and obvious changes I’ve applied are taking shorter strides (this is how I initially avoided the heel strike); then, tried to imagine my hips aligned with my shoulders and ankle at impact; then, I started to focus on leaning forward a bit and lifting my heels higher on the back stride. This feels kind of weird like I’m constantly falling forward a bit and it’s hard to maintain. I feel the gravity effect of ‘falling into the next step’, if that makes sense, but am I doing it right? Am I leaning too far?
I’d love to get some feedback by anyone who’s tried it or uses it or another similar technique (Chi runnning?). I feel like such a newb, but my attitude is that if I learn good running form right now, I won’t suffer as much injury and pain or have to struggle as much to break bad habits later.
This videohas some excellent drills. I’m an assistant coach track/cross country at a local high school and we do these drills along with a number of others both standing and moving.
Most of these work the hip flexors and help develop explosiveness in the stride.
wall hops-Stand against a wall and and jump as high as you can while mostly driving off the ankle, try not to involve the thighs too much. The knees should only bend slightly.
knee drives-Drive the knees as high as possible-quick time
claws-Stand sideways to wall hand to wall. Bring up leg, thigh parallel to ground-hold. Snap foot to ground while pulling back-like a bull pawing the ground. Turn and switch legs.
ins and outs-Face wall, drive knee up and back down, pivot leg out and drive knee up again.
butt kicks-Snap leg up, try to touch buttocks with your heel.
airups-starting in a pushup position, drive up hard with arms and legs, you should get airborn.
I don’t have any experience with PoseRunning but the drills in your linked video look good.
I am not a coach, a running expert, or a barefoot runner, but I have recently switched to minimalist shoes, NewBalance MT100s in my case, that in particular have very minimal heel height. You’ll be amazed how much easier it is to maintain a midfoot strike once you are not up on a high heel. And from what I hear the FiveFingers have even less in rearfoot. You’ll be avoiding hitting your heel without thinking about it without any need for drills as soon as you switch. Keep your abds tucked in some, your shoulders straight across, and your back straight (IOW no slouching) and you’re there.
That said my personal experience, for the very little it is worth, is that jumping rope is a nice adjunct, especially alternate feet boxer shuffle style, not big vertical movement and on the balls of your feet.
In any case kudos to you for approaching fitness intelligently.
Thanks for the feedback and drills. Yesterday on my run, I realized that even though I thought was keeping my shoulders over my hips and over my feet, I was tucking my butt and abdomen in trying to engage my core. Once I swiveled my hips out and back and pulled my shoulders up a little, I realized I was running more upright and straight-backed. Boy, did that make a difference. Even helped me pull my legs up a little more, engaging my hamstrings. I still held my abs tight, so I was engaging my core, but it loosened me up quite a bit. I think that was a good breakthrough. I wish someone could have told me that last week though.
My ankles, just inside the achilles, are a little sore, but the ankles still feel flexible but strong. I think it’s the shoes. I found some low HT ratio flats to get while I’m waiting for the VFFs: Brooks Mach 12 Spikeless. The HT differential is only 4mm. Maybe I’ll switch between the two to keep my muscles from leveling out.
I visited a running store and the lady there was trying to talk me out of racing flats because she thinks I will get a stress fracture in my forefoot, due to the observation she made that I land too far aforefoot. I’m not landing on my toes, but on the fourth and fifth metatarsal heads. My gait, however, is neutral. My strides may still be too long, but I really think it’s because I’m in a beefier heeled trainer. Oh, how I hate these shoes now! Still waiting for fundage to allow a new pair, but now I’m looking at Newtons (on her advice), which are ridiculously expensive. But then another employee came in whom she had described as very knowledgeable and he disagreed with her about the racing flats and said they would be fine once he saw my gait. Now, I’m confused.
Further, I’m getting ankle pain on both sides just on the inside next to the bone in the area of the tibialis posterior. I’ve been massaging it and stretching it (stand up on ball of foot rolling heel out on lifting repetitively. I’m thinking I might have to take an extra recovery day tomorrow and I skipped my walk today.
Everything else is fine, though. No shin pain, no calf pain. Just those damn ankles. And still wondering what to do about shoes. Clearly, my 2 year old Asics are done and not conducive to my form.
Though the barefoot running proponents will disagree, I do not recommend you train in racing flats.
Part of the choice of shoe will depend on your weight, pace, footplant and if you run “heavy”.(Some runners slam their foot down while others land more lightly.)
For the bulk of my running career, I was a 150 lb male, 5-8, slight overpronator, tended to land ball of the foot/slight heel depending on pace.
Long runs(over 10 miles), easy runs, I used regular training shoes( 11 oz for men’s size 9)
Training pace-7:30-8:00/mile-slight heel strike
For fast distance runs(up to 10 miles) tempo runs, intervals on the track and races over 10K, I used lightweight trainers. (8.5-10 oz men’s size 9)
Training/racing pace-6:00-7:15/mile-light ball of foot
Racing up to 10k, Racing flats. The last pair I used were only 6.5 oz( size 9)
Racing pace-5:40-6:15/mile-ball of foot
I am one who cannot run barefoot, been there, beat my legs to a pulp. Even the above racing flats were too light for a 10K so they were used just for an all out race. Otherwise I raced in the light trainers.
Racing flats are just too light to hold up to heavy training.
As you can tell there are lots of opinions … afoot … and little that is a definitive answer. You can search for the recent thread about barefoot running and minimalist shoes for a taste of the debate but the crux of it, beyond anecdotes, is this: more money on a shoe does not equal less risk of injury and may actually correlate with greater injury risk; some (including many shoe salesmen and podiatrists) think that more cushioning will help and some think that minimalist shoes will, if adapted to gradually (something your program is designed to encourage you to do for all of your running program) lead to much less injury risk. I have personally become convinced, both by the arguments and by my personal anecdotal experience, that the minimalist approach is the better one, but there is no clear consensus out there. Others have different personal experiences and therefore different conclusions. As to the idea that you’ll wear through flats too fast, well you can buy two pair of them for the cost of one pair of the Newtons, so wear away. In any case I would not take the advice of a shoe store salesperson trying to sell me expensive shoes all that seriously. (I also can’t see what makes the Vibram Five Fingers worth that much. They seem way overpriced for what they are.)
I’ve loved my New Balance MT 100’s FWIW. Officially it’s a trail shoe but I’ve used it for street running up through 13 miles and loved 'em. Once again however I must disclaim - I am not running every day. I crosstrain with no event in mind and run from once to three times a week max as part of the wide and somewhat random mix. And I am not as fast as many. What feels good for me may not be what works well for you.
Thanks for the feedback. I ran this morning and I decided to do something a little different. I’ve been running in Asics Gel Kanberra, which is neutral but highly cushioned. This morning I put on my Salomon Elios trail runners. A lot stiffer and heavier, but much lower heel. During the run, I didn’t feel my ankles at all and at the end of it, they didn’t hurt as much as they usually do. It seems I’m still suffering from some tenderness, but today’s run did not make it hurt worse.
It looks like I’m retiring my Asics trainers.
I’ll try to find the previous thread about barefoot running, although I’m not sure I want to go completely bare. I think minimalist is more my current goal.
Thank you for the link. Great thread and I’ve bookmarked all those links in it. I’m about to sit down and read the Barefoot Running Q&A series at sportsscientist.com. I have to say, I’m pretty convinced by the data presented by Professor Lieberman at Harvard that minimalist (if not barefoot) running with a mid- or forefoot strike is the way to go. The Ryan/Valiant study reinforced my inclination to stay away from corrective footwear. It’s always good to hear the other side, though. More importantly, my experimenting with different types is likely to get me into the very best footwear for me.
Turns out my VFF Bikilas are on their way and I hope to be running in them by the end of the week. I’ll be visiting a different running store on Wednesday to try on some of the minimalist shoes I’m also interested in. In the meantime, I’ll be running in my Salomon trail runners.
Went for a rugged hike today: 3.4 miles RT, 850 ft. elev. gain and discovered that my formerly weak ankles are a lot stronger now. Strong enough to take on this rocky, steep trail with my trail runners instead of my very supportive hikers. I literally felt like I could run up this trail. After just a few weeks of running intervals, I have so much more energy, strength and stamina. It’s quite amazing how quickly the body adapts and improves.
Last time I did this trail, last year, I had to stop quite a few times to catch my breath. This time I was itching to keep going. I’m also getting to know my heart rate much more intimately and can tell right around where it is at any given level of exertion.
