Thank you- when you say lack of specific strength do you mean glutes/core?
I currently do all of those things, but I may have bad form while doing those too. I've always been strong on hills (maybe because I'm not landing on my heels).
Thank you- when you say lack of specific strength do you mean glutes/core?
I currently do all of those things, but I may have bad form while doing those too. I've always been strong on hills (maybe because I'm not landing on my heels).
There is too much to say about your hips problem, but as a general rule when working to adjust your running form, make a strategy:
- relax when you run: running tense may hurt even more than not having enough strength;
- keep your sight on the ground, somewhere at 50-150 feet in front of you; this means to focus. The better you focus, the better things will fix themselves.
In my opinion, you may have enough strength, especially because you did cross country before. So you are probably running tense.
And I have to say that you are courageous. Many people don't want to change anything in their running form, because they are afraid of failure.
Either way, that recovery exercise I mentioned, it is efficient.
Thank you again. I want to be healthy so badly because I love running. I'll do anything at this point. I want to work hard but my body will not allow it.
I ran barefoot and recorded it and I still seem to heel strike! I don't know what to do. Is it like forcing myself to run on my tip toes?
The advice on this thread has been exceptional, and fisky went into detail I would totally endorse and would tell you if I wasn't a lazy/slow typist.
Do what fisky said, maybe alternating some short nearby hills if possible (even stadium steps if that is all you have), then back to the turf, etc..You are landing on your forefoot, not your toes.
Shoes with 8mm offset are too much. 0-4mm at most.
Be patient, keep your shoulders back and straight, your hips forward. Have a friend or coach critique and review the running form of elites like Mary Slaney posted above. When it 'clicks" you should feel an easy, relaxed, float feeling.
So tired of it wrote:
Thank you- when you say lack of specific strength do you mean glutes/core?
I currently do all of those things, but I may have bad form while doing those too. I've always been strong on hills (maybe because I'm not landing on my heels).
I couldn't say specifically without seeing you. What I'm suggesting is that you try to find the answers yourself. Lots of us here have had problems, and what I've found is that usually I'm in the best position to feel what's going on with my body. So I listen carefully to the therapists of all sorts, but it's up to me to gauge the effects of their therapy.
Another approach you might consider is to stop all of it for awhile -- no running, no aqua jogging, no nothing. Let your body heal, then start back carefully. At your age, you're not suddenly going to lose everything. What you don't want to do is to thrash about and keep getting hurt.
Thank you for the advice
fisky wrote:
So tired of it wrote:Yes, I've had 2 tibial fractures. I did get a fair analysis and I heel strike very badly and have horrible form. I arch my back and land out way too far causing my glutes/core to never be "fired". I don't know how to land underneath myself/mid foot.
So tired of it wrote:
I have filmed myself the past few times and I clearly over stride and heel strike but obviously I haven't been able to work on it because of the injuries but everyone on here has given great suggestions but I just don't know how to translate it into my running form. I am going to try barefoot.
You need to change form to correct the heel striking. Hard heel striking can cause all the problems you are experiencing. Unfortunately, the approach to recover from an injury is not the same as preventing it from reoccurring. I'll deal only with prevention and changing your form.
Find some artificial turf. Run barefoot (or in a pair of old socks). I suggest back and forth down a football field a couple of times at your normal training pace. Once you get the feel for that, immediately put on your shoes and try to recreate that feeling of landing on the forefoot. It may require you to shorten your normal stride a bit and it may feel unnatural. Don't worry. That will go away with practice.
Next, you need to switch to a shoe with a low heel-to-toe lift. Regular running shoes have a 10mm drop from heel to toe. You want to try a 6mm or even a 4mm. A 0mm might be too much and result in achilles problems. A knowledgeable running store rep can help with this. Brooks, Saucony, and Newton make shoes like this. The Newton Distance would be a good choice because it has very little heel cushion. Thus, you're forced to land more on the midfoot or forefoot.
I could try to explain why you need this type of shoe, but it would be confusingly complex. Suffice to say, you need a shoe that encourages rather than hinders a forefoot strike.
Stay off pavement until you figure this out. Train on soft terrain, trails, or track. It will not come overnight. Run with your new form for 20 seconds, jog normally to recover and repeat. Gradually increase the time you are running on your forefoot to a minute, then two minutes. Then more. It took me 6 months to figure this out on my own, but the "barefoot to shoe" drill going quickly from barefoot to recreating the same form in shoes will speed this up a lot. So will shoes that encourage a forefoot strike. - Good luck.
for the record, there is no consensus that anyone should try to change her footstrike - that strategy has always stuck me as an old wive's tale, absent of science. It*sounds* right so people believe it.
Last I heard, the only thing science seems to agree on is that landing softer is better.
How can I do that with a heel strike?
So tired of it wrote:
How can I do that with a heel strike?
I don't know.
But this article talks about a study that looked at a bunch of heel strikers. which conventional wisdom suggests means they strike harder. But it turns out that heel strikers do not necessarily strike harder:
"The never-injured runners, as a group, landed far more lightly than those who had been seriously hurt, the scientists found, even when the researchers controlled for running mileage, body weight and other variables.
That finding refutes the widely held belief that a runner cannot land lightly on her heels."
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/02/10/why-we-get-running-injuries-and-how-to-prevent-them/?_r=0I dunno how to advise you to heel strike lightly.
Just thought I'd update- the so called "si joint" injury is a sacral stress fracture.
so tired of it wrote:
Just thought I'd update- the so called "si joint" injury is a sacral stress fracture.
with all of these injuries at that age that it really sounds like you are lacking in the nutrition dept. you say you have a nutritionist but it sure sounds like your bone density is lacking given all of the fractures. do you have normal periods?lack of good nutrition also inhibits recovery which will make you more injury prone.
are you sure you getting enough calcium? protein? calories?
No, it's not like running on tip toes. Don't worry about how your foot appears to land. I'm saying "forefoot" but the key is to ensure that the primary force of impact is not on your heel. I'm confident that if you are running barefoot, you aren't landing hard on your heel. It is almost impossible to land hard on the heel while running barefoot unless you are running soft in beach sand. If your heel is touching first when running barefoot, don't worry about it. Just try to mimic that motion when you put on your shoes and run.
So tired of it wrote:
I ran barefoot and recorded it and I still seem to heel strike! I don't know what to do. Is it like forcing myself to run on my tip toes?
so tired of it wrote:
Just thought I'd update- the so called "si joint" injury is a sacral stress fracture.
Ouch. You're in good company, though.
http://www.karagoucher.com/a-surprise-new-accessory-and-a-change-of-plans/She came back to finish 4th the the olympic marathon trials some weeks ago. You should read through her blog while you rest and recover.
I have never had a period. I weigh plenty and I'm pretty sure I eat enough
I appreciate it. The doc said it's healing nicely, as for the time frame I'm not sure. She said to continue to do what doesn't hurt which is Aqua jog, core, waking, and light lifting.
Okay thank you. I filmed it and i seemed to land on my heel, but hopefully not hard.
Thank you for that. Really encouraging right now
Does nutrition really cause all of this?
The nutrition has its role in recovery.
Especially vitamins from the B complex.
But you should check with a doctor that.
Regarding the heel strike, it is better to try simple exercises instead of getting deep in analysis.
But just for conversation and give you some hints, take a look at this picture:
On the left is Moses Mosop and on the right an unknown guy.
There are 2 aspects which make a lot of difference:
- their left leg is on the ground. Mosop's leg is more behind, because he is not using it for rest, but to drag the ground beneath him. Similar to "pawing", like Jack Daniels imagine it.
- Mosop's right foot is in almost vertical position, facing towards the ground. The timing of this position is very important. If you have the foot inclined like that when it passes in front of the other leg, it is almost impossible to land other than forefoot. Otherwise he would fall in front, because there is no time to turn the toes up.
Don't try to do as Mosop. He has a fantastic fitness level and the picture was taken while running at 3:00/km.
But this can be a clue.