I think this response gets the conventional wisdom right.That being said, I also think that our bodies tend to end up where they naturally want to be and that if you are not having injury issues, you shouldn't worry about it.I am roughly the same size as you (5' 8", mid 140s), with fairly long legs for my height. For easy distance efforts, my cadence is in the low to mid 160s, but when I do speed work or race, it is almost always right at 180. I definitely overstride, with my foot typically making full contact a few inches ahead of my center of gravity, but it has always worked for me, so I don't worry about it.For the record, I never actually pay attention to cadence. I only know my cadence because it pops up with the rest of my data on my Garmin download. Before I moved over to a Garmin a year and a half ago, I had no idea what my cadence was and didn't care (and I have been running for more than 25 years).
JamestheAmateur wrote:
I think it primarily helps to avoid overstriding/heel striking. I used to badly heel strike until I increased my cadence. Now I have a midfoot strike and am more comfortable at quicker paces