Foot: what part should land first?
Tom Kierluk
a mile in just over six minutes and two miles in just over 13 minutes,
which for me was good.
This Spring I decided to try to get back into serious running. As I
did 15 years ago, I did my running on a rubber-surfaced high school
track.
I ran two miles every day for 19 days, and after about 13 days my
knees, especially my left, were very sore. On day 20 my knees were so
sore in the morning I realized I'd better stop, and I took 19 days
off. Today I went to the track to start up again, telling myself I'll
run once every three days and ease into it.
On the way to the track I thought about the fact that I really don't
even know what the mechanics of running should be.
I seem to recall that when I ran 15 years ago, I ran without any
"vertical bounce". I just sort of moved my body forward in one
horizontal plane without any "up and down kick", and with a very short
stride. My feet stayed very close to the track throughout each stride.
And here's the important part: I think I landed almost completely
flat-footed, except that the heel of my foot touched down slightly
before the ball of my foot. If I wanted to run faster, I just pushed
myself forward faster in the horizontal plane, but without lengthening
my stride much. Instead, I just took faster short strides.
When I started running this Spring, I used the same technique. Most
important, my heel was hitting the ground before the ball of my foot,
and I was getting virtually none of the shock-absorption benefits that
one gets by landing on the ball of one's foot. It occurred to me that
all my body weight was grinding into my knee on each stride because,
by landing on my heel, there was a direct immediate transfer of weight
to the knee.
So today, after 19 days off, I decided to assume that the proper
technique is for the ball of the foot to hit the ground well before
the heel. So I just went around the track with quick baby steps, but
with exaggerated vertical bounce, and landed just on the balls of my
feet without letting my heels touch the ground at all. Then on the
straights I ran fast with as long a stride as I could, and
concentrated on making sure the balls of my feet landed first.
When I was running fast, it occurred to me that with a long fast
stride it would be virtually impossible for the heel to land first,
because with a long fast stride the body seems always to be "in front
of" the legs (or at least never behind).
When I was finished today, my calves were quite sore and I realized
that in all the running I did a few weeks ago, and 15 years ago, I
never really used my calves, because of the flat way I was running.
So my intuition tells me the proper way to run is with some vertical
bounce and with the ball of the foot landing first.
My question is: am I right; should I be landing on the ball, and not
the heel?
Also, when I got home from the track today I started to use (for the
first time ever), a jump rope, because it seems to me rope jumping,
with concentration on landing on the balls of the feet, is a good calf
exercise for running. Does that make sense?
Denny Anderson
.......snip...............
>
>What others have created from GAPO:
>Gravity And Posture Optimization
>Gravity Allows Posture Optimization
>Gravity Activated Posture Optimization
>Graceful Action Produces Obsession
>Great And Powerful Oz
>Gorilla Arm Pit Odor
>Gait-Action-Posture-Observation
>Gait Analysis Produces Obfuscation
>
forgot one:: Glib And Pedantic Orator!
.................snipotore..................
>Did I say "Eyes on the horizon?!"
>
Not sure. Probably in 248 lines tho.
>End of GAPOTORE 1.
Wasn't he a cobbler here made a puppet and.......umm?.. I forget the
rest.
Denny
Rene van Belzen
[snipped the very interesting introduction]
>So my intuition tells me the proper way to run is with some vertical
>bounce and with the ball of the foot landing first.
>
>My question is: am I right; should I be landing on the ball, and not
>the heel?
Well, the debate is still open on that, but I prefer the midfoot
strike over the heel strike. See my translation of the article by
Dutch running coach Klaas Lok:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hurray/myrunninglog/howtorun.html
(click on "running technique")
>Also, when I got home from the track today I started to use (for the
>first time ever), a jump rope, because it seems to me rope jumping,
>with concentration on landing on the balls of the feet, is a good calf
>exercise for running. Does that make sense?
No, jumping is something completely different from running. The
combination of vertical accelleration and horizontal speed requires a
different technique and places different stresses on your muscles,
tendons and ligaments. IMO jumping also promotes bulky "sprint
muscles", which you can't use in midlong and long distance running.
So, unless you want to be a sprinter, stop the jumping. There are much
more efficient excercises for running, I'm told, although they are
rarely used by novice runners. Those running excercises should also be
supervised by an experienced coach, to check if you perform them
correctly.
Rene van Belzen
hurray [at] xs4all [dot] nl
My Running Log
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hurray/myrunninglog/
Kerry Wilson
<1b9f5c97.01060...@posting.google.com>...
>...
>This Spring I decided to try to get back into serious running. As I
>did 15 years ago, I did my running on a rubber-surfaced high school
>track.
>
>I ran two miles every day for 19 days, and after about 13 days my
>knees, especially my left, were very sore. On day 20 my knees were so
>sore in the morning I realized I'd better stop, and I took 19 days
>off. Today I went to the track to start up again, telling myself I'll
>run once every three days and ease into it.
You are trying to do too much too soon, and you're running on a very
demanding surface. In the beginning, limit your running to 3 or 4 days per
week. Run on the grass just inside the track for at least part of the
workout -- especially when warming up. You are warming up, right?
>
>...
>So today, after 19 days off, I decided to assume that the proper
>technique is for the ball of the foot to hit the ground well before
>the heel. So I just went around the track with quick baby steps, but
>with exaggerated vertical bounce, and landed just on the balls of my
>feet without letting my heels touch the ground at all.
Ouch!
> Then on the
>straights I ran fast with as long a stride as I could, and
>concentrated on making sure the balls of my feet landed first.
>...
>When I was finished today, my calves were quite sore and I realized
>that in all the running I did a few weeks ago, and 15 years ago, I
>never really used my calves, because of the flat way I was running.
>So my intuition tells me the proper way to run is with some vertical
>bounce and with the ball of the foot landing first.
>My question is: am I right; should I be landing on the ball, and not
>the heel?
The term usually applied these days is "midfoot landing". (When you were
running 19 years ago, it was probably referred to as "ball-heel-ball".) The
middle part of the foot touches down first, usually at the outside edge,
followed immediately by the entire foot including the heel flattening
against the ground. Your calves were sore because they took the entire
weight of your body at every step. You are asking for achilles tendon
problems running in this manner. Your heel should land just after the
middle of the foot at all speeds short of an all-out sprint. It is normal
for your claves to be sore for a week or so after adopting this style, but
if the soreness persists, it probably indicates that you are exaggerating
the midfoot landing and your calves are taking your body weight before your
heel touches down. The midfoot landing is very subtile at distance-running
speeds.
>
>Also, when I got home from the track today I started to use (for the
>first time ever), a jump rope, because it seems to me rope jumping,
>with concentration on landing on the balls of the feet, is a good calf
>exercise for running. Does that make sense?
Sure, but don't over do it, especially if your muscles are tired after a
running session.
Denny Anderson
>On 4 Jun 2001 14:59:59 -0700, tkie...@elgin.net (Tom Kierluk) wrote:
>
>[snipped the very interesting introduction]
>
>>So my intuition tells me the proper way to run is with some vertical
>>bounce and with the ball of the foot landing first.
>>
>>My question is: am I right; should I be landing on the ball, and not
>>the heel?
>
>Well, the debate is still open on that, but I prefer the midfoot
>strike over the heel strike. See my translation of the article by
>Dutch running coach Klaas Lok:
>
>http://www.xs4all.nl/~hurray/myrunninglog/howtorun.html
>
>(click on "running technique")
>
Excellent link. My sentiments exactly (re. heel height). Different
technique transitioning to forefot/midfoot style, but same objective.
............................snip............
>Rene van Belzen
>hurray [at] xs4all [dot] nl
>My Running Log
>http://www.xs4all.nl/~hurray/myrunninglog/
Denny
Rene van Belzen
Anderson) wrote:
>nos...@nospam.com (Rene van Belzen) wrote:
>
>>On 4 Jun 2001 14:59:59 -0700, tkie...@elgin.net (Tom Kierluk) wrote:
>>
>>>My question is: am I right; should I be landing on the ball, and not
>>>the heel?
>>
>>Well, the debate is still open on that, but I prefer the midfoot
>>strike over the heel strike. See my translation of the article by
>>Dutch running coach Klaas Lok:
>>
>>http://www.xs4all.nl/~hurray/myrunninglog/howtorun.html
>>
>>(click on "running technique")
>>
>Excellent link. My sentiments exactly (re. heel height). Different
>technique transitioning to forefot/midfoot style, but same objective.
Here's another link about "running form", from Dr. Stephen M. Pribut's
Sport Pages:
http://www.clark.net/pub/pribut/running_form.html