Foostrike conversion?

Give me your email address and I will give you some advice.

try running at a slow pace and focus on landing on your fore-foot, and then allowing your entire foot to touch the ground, and then push off with your forefoot. fore-heel-fore. if your heel lands after your forefoot, this will give your calves a momentary rest. the pain you are getting is due staying on your forefoot and not giving your calves a chance to relax.

Mr. Flats -- thanks for any advice.

I'm not getting any pain while running, and my heels are coming to the ground after my forefoot, it's just that my calves still get tired and a bit sore afterwards. I"m assuming that as I get used to it my calves will strengthen and the tightness will ease up. I"m just worried about other injuries.

Any other takes on the situation?

bump....

I will try to email you later. I must go for my morning run.

You cannot change your foot strike. You are going to end up injuring yourself because of the way your body has evolved into absorbing shock. You can change the way your upper body moves, hips, and knee drive but you cannot physically change foot strike.

I used to be a heavy heel striker and land way outside my center of gravity but as I worked into less and less shoe, my footstriker adjusted and now I am light heel/midfoot striker and land almost directly under my hip. If you're not a natural forefoot striker, shoes with a high heel will almost force you to come crashing down on your heels.

Tell me that I may get injured, but don't tell me that you can't change your footstrike. I ran 6.5 mile yesterday, striking on my forefoot (heel coming down after). So, it can be done. I am honestly interested in what the repercussions may be, so give me a heads up, but don't tell me you can't do it.

No, never try to change the footstrike. Shoes, surfaces, etc can be adjusted...but an attempt to change something the body has done for years is a disaster waiting to happen. Each individual is unique and his or her running form is very precise and one change can cause you much injury.

You are flat out wrong. I've evolved from a heel striker to a midfoot striker to a forefoot lander. My heel doesn't touch at all. Other than sore calves and sore feet on occasion, the transition has gone well. You need to be patient and give yourself several months.

The key is not to point your toes down. Let your feet land naturally under your body and pick them up quickly.

1) Is it ever good for someone to modify their natural footstrike? (especially if it doesn't seem to be working)

Well, there's plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that it is (myself included)

2) Should I be wary of lower leg injuries (e.g. plantar fasciatis, achilles tendonitis, stress fractures), and is there any way to minimize them?

Yes - mainly the calf/achilles thing. to minimise this focus on using your hamstrings to pull the foot away from the ground rather than just relying on the bounce of your calf/tendon & try not to point your toes to force the forefoot thing, just relax the ankle. Also have a look at the exercises in the following article -

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0031.htm

3) Is there a negative associated with running with a fore/midfoot strike in orthotics and regular trainers as opposed to flats or more lightweight shoes? (other than the added weight I'm carrying around)

It just doesn't seem to work basically! I used to run in Air Structure Triax but they are hopeless for forefoot running. For one thing the built-up heel gets in the way.

4) Should I ease into this more than I already am (running light mileage every other day), i.e. only use the forefoot strike on some runs?

I'd only do 15 mins at a time for a few weeks.

5) Will I become more efficient as I run more with this type of footstrike? I feel like I've always run races (800-5k) with this type of foot strike in spikes, so won't this help me as I race?

Hope so - see

http://www.triathletes-uk.org/info/running.html

I'm looking to bump up my mileage a bit (40-50 miles a week) and am hopeful that this will help me do it.

It let me go from 60 mpw.

Good luck!

Any of you saying it cannot be done are just ignorant. It may or may not be asking for injury. In your situation you are either going to get injured doing what you currently are (and not being able to train properly) or have a chance of getting injured while having a chance of getting stronger/faster. The choice seems simple.

I used to heal strike even when running pretty quickly but a little over half a year ago i changed to forefoot running. I used to get injured frequently (as much as every 6 months) but now have run much higher mileage and much better workouts for a longer stretch with (so far) no injuries. I feel like my muscles/tendons are absorbing shock in a more elasitc way rather than just my bone structure as before which is likely why I have had stress fractures.

Just start focusing on "tip toe-ing" and being light on your feet on shorter and slower runs. If you try long, hard, and fast and change your footstike you are asking for it. If you go easy you can adapt. Eventually after having to focus your entire run on running forefoot it will become more natural and even second nature.

15 mins a week?

That seems waaaay too little for me. I'm afraid that I'm rushing it, though. I did 6.5 miles yesterday. My calves are pretty sore today, so i think i'll hit the elliptical, but i don't really want to go back to heel striking when I run, so i was going to keep my mileage low (>15 a week) for right now. Am I asking for an injury with that?

I successfully changed my footstrike. I started out as a recreational runner in college (now I'm just a recreational runner after college :) ). I tried to incorporate the notion that a cadence of 180 is most efficient.

With that goal in mind, I found that I had to shorten my stride. The result is that I did not overstride, and landed closer to my center of gravity with a mid-foot foot strike.

I'll second Mark H's comments that regular trainers hinder what you are trying to accomplish. Using the new stride, I would scuff the heels of my shoes as I brought the trail leg forward for the next step. So, in the forefoot of my shoes under the insole, I added a layer of cork (comes in a roll, about 1-2 mm thick) I found at a craft store. This raised the forefoot relative to the heel, and helped with the scuffing. I guess this will be the inevitable beginning of the minimalist shoe tanget for this thread ;)

I'll also note that I initially felt that I was in third gear and needed upshift into fourth.

It took a couple of weeks before the new stride rate, and midfoot stride, felt normal. Now I sometimes try the old form just for kicks, and it feels weird. I can really notice the braking effect from overstriding.

btw, I found from personal experience that the more stable the shoe, the more it bothered my ITB.

Mr. Flats -- or anyone else?

thanks for the input so far. calves are really sore right now, but I'm hoping I'll get used to that. I'm running light mileage every other day in mizuno precision, and doing elliptical training in between.

changing foot strike is obviously a last resort. however, it can be done, and should be done only if nothing else has worked.

i have successfully changed my footstrike from a forefoot strike to a heel-toe strike. my advice to you is to take the conversion slowly, and be aware of your body - if you're getting any sharp pains, anything that you suppose is not muscular or a bit of tendinitis - stop. be patient, as the conversion to a different foot strike may take many months before you feel comfortable with your new feet.

as for your tight calves - they come with the territory of "toe running." with forefoot running, the calves are constantly compressed, and you do not get the benefit of lengthening them as much as you do when extending your heel to hit the ground first. i was a highly competetive collegiate athlete, always running on my toes, and post-college ran into a series of calf-injuries b/c of my forefoot strike, concluding with chronic compartment syndrome.

also, make sure you have good orthotics. by that i mean that make sure your orthopedist has watched you run in your shoes, both with and without orthotics. also make sure the orthopedist has watched you run using your heel AND using your forefoot. this may give both of you a better idea of your biomechanics, from which your knee problems most likely extend.

good luck, and don't listen to anyone who tells you that you can't change your stride!

Yes it can be done. Tight calves and quads are commonplace when you first switch. I would recommend going a portion of your run fore-foot striking then regular (heel strike). Continue doing this as get stronger. For example, on your 4 or 6 mile run, do the first part maybe a mile or two forefoot striking, and if you get tired go back to regular. Soon enough you will be strong enough to do the entire run and more mileage fore-foot striking. Its important that you don't force to continue fore-foot striking just because you want to (leads to injury) let your legs, ankles, tendons and ligaments do the talking. Be patient. Hope that helps.

Before going to a midfoot strike, I suggest two things.

1) Take time to strengthen more inmprtantly your calves and hamstrings, with glutes and core a close second (for anykind of running, core exersises are the core to avoiding many injuries).

2) Get a pair of Nike Free running shoes and and put about 6 - 12 miles a week in them These shoes resumble running barefoot, and, as a result, stregthen the lower legs and reduce injuries.

Now, two questions of my own.

1) With midfoot running, how far back does the trail leg exend before coming around? I assume it's much less than with heel-striking? (i.e, what changes occur in the movement of the legs when landing on the midfoot)?

2) Are you pushing off the planted foot? Are you using less quad muscles running this way?

Two tidbits. You might find some interesting answers looking into running methods such as Chi running and POSE running. At the core of both is shifting from the heel to the midfoot and keeping your feet under your center of mass.

great conversation.

i ran in college, but was limited by recurring injuries. i was the textbook, over-striding, heal-bounding, at about 155 steps per minute.

about 2 years ago (which was 3 years after college) - my new coach told me to change my stride to 180 per minute. i focused on this until it became second nature. i did not worry about footstrike, although inevitbaly this changed as well.

i am now able to run further without getting as tired, i conserve energy, and am optimistic about my progress. (people tell me seb coe changed his form and it moved him to the next level, never verified myself).

the key is two-fold: 1) patience, results may take a few years 2) gradual. all training must be altered gradually.

i was up to 80 mpw last year when my inner shins, just above my ankle (i mean right above the ankle, and directly inside, became sore).

i am getting this checked out soon, i have been resting and healing. but i believe that i may have done too much too soon, despite my caution. i think it is related to tendon strain.

so i am beginning to build up again. this time slower than before, with more strengthening exercises. i am confident that in the long run changing form will keep my healthy and allow me to run much faster than my old loping style.

has anybody experienced similar soreness near their ankles?