For the 1600m, how do you guys run on your toes (in spikes) for all four laps? because by the 3rd and 4th laps, I always heel strike to the point that my 3rd and 4th laps are drastically slower.
It seems as if my calves give up a lot earlier than I'd want them to, and I'd like to know how to remedy this.
Foot strike (forefoot, midfoot, heel) is the result of where your foot is under your body when you make contact with the ground. You can't simply start landing on your forefoot because if you are still over-striding (the entire foot making contact with the ground in front of the knee) then this will be horribly inefficient (you'd be better off heel striking).
Focus on your foot making contact with the ground with the heel behind the knee. As you increase speed you'll find yourself striking with the midfoot and at sprint speeds striking with the forefoot.
Its natural to land on your heels a bit. Just run naturally as possible. Even world class milers land on their heels to some degree.
XY wrote:
Its natural to land on your heels a bit. Just run naturally as possible. Even world class milers land on their heels to some degree.
Ha, it didn't occur to me that the OP may be trying to run with his heels NEVER making contact with the ground. No wonder his calves are giving out.
For middle distance runners the heel makes contact with the ground no matter if you are forefoot, midfoot or heel striker (this is the part of your foot which makes FIRST contact with thee ground). If you are sprinting at the end of a race the heel may not touch the ground, but you shouldn't consciously do this... it is the result of where your foot is under your body and your speed.
Depends how fast you're running, according to this study. If you're running 5mins or slower, a rear foot strike is more efficient.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24002340
And Outside article
http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/bodywork/in-stride/Heel-Runners-Rejoice.html
Here's an interesting snippet they did in Myths About Running
http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/bodywork/in-stride/Top-10-Running-Myths.html
I think you are over thinking it. You should focus on speed and time, not the position of your foot. I also think that if you had video of those last couple laps, you'd find that you are not heel striking. True heel striking is very hard to do at any pace.
Fat Boy wrote:
I think you are over thinking it. You should focus on speed and time, not the position of your foot. I also think that if you had video of those last couple laps, you'd find that you are not heel striking. True heel striking is very hard to do at any pace.
WTF are you talking about. 95% of joggers strike with the heel first.
My guess is you never broke 5 minutes for the mile.
Position of the foot under the body is very important for running fast on the track. If your entire foot is landing in front of your knee then you are over-striding and blocking (it is even possible to do this while making first ground contact with your forefoot, which would be very hard on the calves).
You probably sprint your first 2 laps and that's why you slow down.