Reminds me of when I tried to change my golf swing to emulate Fred Couples or some other smooth swinger. Didn't work. You gotta dance w/who you brung or in your case, you have to run with your own 2 feet and the body attached to them. Subtle changes in form? Sure. Massive foot strike change? Nope. Everyone runs in their own unique way. Be you or in the words of the late, great Arnold Palmer "Swing your swing."
If there was one thing I could change in my running past it would be to stay as a heel striker. I was indestructible. Then a bit past forty I started believing all that stuff I was reading about how it's natural and healthier to land at midfoot. So I changed. That set off all sorts of problems with my knees, hip, and back. It wasn't broke and I shouldn't have tried to fix it. Take this for what it's worth,
@HRE, interesting comments you made about heel striking. Viren, who I think you ran against, characterized himself as a "light heel striker". So there must be some good to heel striking, as you point out.
Decrease stride length increase cadence. Ignore all the other BS in this thread
This is right. Don't even think about where on your foot you are landing, just shorten stride and aim for 180 steps per minute (you certainly aren't there yet). If you do, you will eventually land under your body, midfoot.
That trend in ca. 2011-14 made people prance, like a show pony. That was bad.
If there was one thing I could change in my running past it would be to stay as a heel striker. I was indestructible. Then a bit past forty I started believing all that stuff I was reading about how it's natural and healthier to land at midfoot. So I changed. That set off all sorts of problems with my knees, hip, and back. It wasn't broke and I shouldn't have tried to fix it. Take this for what it's worth,
@HRE, interesting comments you made about heel striking. Viren, who I think you ran against, characterized himself as a "light heel striker". So there must be some good to heel striking, as you point out.
There were too many guys between Viren and me to get a look at how he was landing. But there have been plenty of fast heel strikers. Barry Magee told me that landing on one's heels is absolutely the best way to run long distances. Amby Burfoot was a definite heel striker and I'm sure I've seen photos of Salazar with his heel on the ground and his mid and forefoot still in the air. In general if you look at photos of the front pack at road races you can find many people whose heels are clearly the first part on the ground.
It may well be that ultimately landing farther ahead of the heel is a better way to go and if you could get a kid running that way as a toddler onward that kid would end up faster and healthier than if he'd landed on his heels. But trying consciously to switch to mid or fore foot landing after decades of heel landing seems risky to me.
@HRE, interesting comments you made about heel striking. Viren, who I think you ran against, characterized himself as a "light heel striker". So there must be some good to heel striking, as you point out.
There were too many guys between Viren and me to get a look at how he was landing. But there have been plenty of fast heel strikers. Barry Magee told me that landing on one's heels is absolutely the best way to run long distances. Amby Burfoot was a definite heel striker and I'm sure I've seen photos of Salazar with his heel on the ground and his mid and forefoot still in the air. In general if you look at photos of the front pack at road races you can find many people whose heels are clearly the first part on the ground.
It may well be that ultimately landing farther ahead of the heel is a better way to go and if you could get a kid running that way as a toddler onward that kid would end up faster and healthier than if he'd landed on his heels. But trying consciously to switch to mid or fore foot landing after decades of heel landing seems risky to me.
Heel strikers are actually more like heel kissers coz it’s not possible to land with the full impact force on your heel and not get immediately shocked in pain. The impact curve with heel striking first goes up a bit and then comes down some and then goes up again to peak after the entire foot has landed. Studies show no performance benefit and mixed or modest results on injury risk reduction to changing away from heel striking, so yes, it wouldn’t be advisable to change one’s natural form unless it is actively injuring them.
Decrease stride length increase cadence. Ignore all the other BS in this thread
This is right. Don't even think about where on your foot you are landing, just shorten stride and aim for 180 steps per minute (you certainly aren't there yet). If you do, you will eventually land under your body, midfoot.
That trend in ca. 2011-14 made people prance, like a show pony. That was bad.
No it's just more BS. Run naturally, like you learned to do when you were a kid.
Can you imagine 4 year olds having these inane discussions about 'ideal running form'?
If you're going to dabble with forefoot running buy a pair of insoles with a 'meditarsal (sp?) pad.'
No adult posting here should be dabbling with anything. Your running form is decided by your muscle and bone lengths which vary considerably amongst us.
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