Why do shoes erode so fast on the outside heel?

Factual Questions
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Most of the faster runners wear out the balls of the feet. That’s a faster way to run than heel striking (and esp. heel scraping, which slows you down).

Aestivalis is correct. YMCA running teaches one to land on your heels then pronate to your big toe. This is OK, but landing on the balls of your feet is faster. Aestivalis, you don’t actually land on your toes, do you? You probably land on your balls of your feet. (I always add “of the feet” to stop punsters in their tracks. :)) If you have flat feet, I assume you use shoes with a high arch or put in arch supports.

In addition, wearing out the balls of the feet will not produce any injury, but wearing out the heels (without building them up) can cause plantar fasciitis.

I want to add that my first attempt to correct, by lifting my knees higher and emphatically land on my heels, lessened my scraping, but once I started on my “toes” landing, my scraping is minimal.

Years ago, I used “Eternal Sole” to glue on my heels. I don’t think it is made any more, and it really didn’t last that long, and they were expensive ($10 each). Then I found a company, called “Hale’s” which made plastic taps. They are supplied with tacks, and that worked very well. They lasted quite a while, and they were cheap. They weren’t made specifically for runners, but they worked well. I had ordered hundreds of them. Then they went out of business, but I was sent a notice that another company took them over. Since by then, I no longer needed them, I never bought any more. You might Google “Hale"s” and ee if you can find them.

BTW, after I bought a new pair of shoes, I would do a 10 mile run, and the outer side of my heels were noticeably worn. Those who ran with me commented on my scraping, but I was oblivious to the scrape. After one run, a runner asked me if I was OK. When I replied that I was, he said that I was just wearing out my shoes quickly.

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I forgot to mention that while I was scraping and before I discovered Hale’s plastic taps, and because Eternal Sole was so expensive, I used a glue gun to build up my heels. That works fairly well, but the glue wears down quickly and you wind up using the gun every other day or so, but until you stop scraping or until you can get those plastic taps, you may want to try it.

I Googled Hale’s, but could not find any relevant site, but I looked at only the first page of the results.

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I found this site that seems to have the heel taps you mentioned: http://haleheel.murphylinks.com/NoNoise.html

I am going to try your strategy of trying to land on my toes to see how it goes. But I might eventually try these taps. I am not worried about speed when running right now, so I would like to extend my shoe’s life.

Did you put the taps before the heel wore out or after?

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I don’t agree with this statement. Running on the balls of your feet, especially for someone who is transitioning from a heel-striker, can cause tremendous stress on the calves which are now going to be taking a good chunk of the impact.

Calf-tightness is one of the prime causes of plantar fasciitis. [Plantar Fasciitis: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment] Beyond that, you can also introduce Achilles tendon issues.

One thing you might try is to shorten your stride. This will usually prevent you from over-striding (which all but guarantees a heel strike), cause you to shift to more of a mid-foot strike. I find most new runners overstride, presumably in an effort to go faster. Less over-striding (smaller steps) with a higher cadence (160-80 steps per minute; 80-90 strides per minute). Among others: NEWSROOM - Free Bootstrap Magazine Template] [Running cadence and why it's important - oregonlive.com] There’s music out there that will be on that beat. Podrunner [Podrunner: Workout Music Mixes - Podrunner] has a bunch at nearly every bpm.

You’ll generally find that the faster you run, the more you’ll naturally revert to a mid-foot or fore-foot strike (extreme example: sprinting). Most of us, especially those starting out, can’t run for long at that speed though! It strikes me as a Catch-22 that runners are told to slow down (difficult to maintain non-heel striking form) and minimize heel-strike (where you naturally speed up!).

In trying to provide more links as cites, it seems there are hundreds of websites, most which seem to be selling something or are very one-sided, each with their own opinions and absolute truths, each which conflict with every other site. It’s a wonder anyone can run at all :slight_smile:

Disclaimer: I tend to mid-foot strike based on the wear pattern of my shoes. I wear a few different types of shoes but put most of my miles (avg 40mi/week) in Asics Speedstars. If you’re interested in photos of my shoes/soles you’re welcome to see them :slight_smile:

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intel_dork, that’s it. Those are the polyurethane taps. You don’t want to build up the heel too much, so attach them as soon as the heel begins to wear.

MobiusStripes, I said that changing your landing may initially cause some issues. I found that eliminating heel scraping was well worth the temporary pains around the lower legs. We are not talking about heel striking, but heel scraping. Worn out heels can definitely cause plantar fasciitis, as that tissue is stretched more with worn out heels. I knew a fast runner who was a heel striker (and perhaps scraper) as he allowed his heels to be worn completely out to the midsole. Then he wondered why he got plantar fasciitis.

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@Mobius I am running pretty slow (11min/mile avg pace), and my strides are pretty short, so I am “shuffling”. I hear the heel scrape as my foot is sliding forward, and it only catches the extreme outside of the heel.

This morning I tried to imagine landing on my toes, and that seemed to minimize the scraping sound I heard, and I did feel some aching in the ankle. I also noticed that the more tired I get the more my feet scrape as I shuffle along. On Sunday up to 12 miles it seemed ok, but the last 3 miles I was tired and heard the scrape almost every stride.

Thanks for all the info and suggestions, this has been super informative.

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Yes, when you get tired you will begin to scrape. When I do my long runs on Sundays, one of the ladies I run with often mentions that I will begin to scrape, even before I notice it. That happens when you get tired. When you hear the scrape, you must concentrate even more on landing on your toes.

I scrape the extreme outside of the heel, too, when I do scrape. I think this is common for those who have done a lot of LSD (long, slow distances). I’ve done 32 marathons, one 50-miler, and some triathlons and duathlons. I used to run 18-20 miles once a week (years ago). I think the problem developed doing all those LSDs, shuffling along. When you run faster, you run more efficiently, and it will be easier to land on your “toes.” You should do some of those toe running on sand or dirt where you can see the imprint to see on what part of the shoe you actually are landing on. My toe running actually shows either the entire foot being planted or the forward part, but not just the toes.

If you order those Hale taps, you will save much money for new shoes. At one time they were going out of business and offered a hundred or so taps for a very low price. I still have some, but don’t need them any more. By the time my heel has sufficiently been eroded, my midsoles have lost their cushioning, and I’ll need some new shoes anyway.

Keep trying to land on your toes so long as your ankles allow you, and you will eventually eliminate the scraping. It took me a long time, but it took me some time to figure that out.

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