M. Mulligan said:I'm interested in advice regarding the proper stride -
specifically, how should the foot contact the ground while
running? I'm in an urban area, and I'm limited to sidewalk
surfaces for my routine runs. I believe this is taking a
toll on my knees, but I've found recently that staying
exclusively on my toes (little or no heel contact during
run) significantly diminishes the shock to my knees and
joints. However, a friend - and marathoner - recently
advised me that this is not proper technique, that running
this way will diminish my speed and ultimately could lead
to injuries to the achilles and connective tissues in the
lower leg.
Anyone have any advice here? What is the consensus
recommendation for proper foot/surface contact
during stride?
Some have claimed success with a toe strike, though they
bring the heel down before pushing off. Otherwise, they
claim it does demand too much of the lower leg. Typical
running training shoes probably assume a heel strike or
perhaps a level foot.
You can control shock to your knees without making a risky
transition to a different foot strike, however. The most
obvious, get shoes suited to your needs as advised by a
mentor or someone you discover in a specialty running shop.
Unfortunately, I have not found many who can objectively
advise. They all seem to take a party line based on their
own preferences, and the model that fit you this month, may
not be the right one six months from now. You can even buy a
shoe and not find it adequate until taking a few long runs.
Beware that cushioning for one brand, e.g., Mizuno, might be
10 times firmer than cushioning for another, e.g. Nike. Each
has its own devout following.
Running on grass or other unpaved surface can make a big
difference, as can padded tracks and absorbent treadmills.
The most common advice to adjusting form would be to avoid
overstriding, which means bringing the leg forward with an
overextended knee and impacting on the heel, well forward of
the body center. Couple this with too much vertical bounce
to get a noisy, clunky, jarring run.
Form awareness:
Listen to your running and set yourself a goal to be a
stealth runner, to be able to overtake some walkers without
them knowing you are coming.
Become aware of your vertical bounce and work to minimize
it. Obviously, this may or may not be your particular need.
Try to plant your foot under, not in front of, the body.
Become conscious of the degree to which you make foot
contact with an overly straight knee and adjust. Maybe, push
off sooner, with a shorter stride and higher cadence.
Let the legs rest on occasion, so you have spring in your
legs and punish the body less.
Learn how to anticipate a lower footstrike when running
downhill, to avoid jarring impacts. Use a shorter
stride on hills.
Make your own observations in the spirit of the above to
find what helps you "glide over" rather than pound the road.
If you have access to a treadmill with mirrors, you can self-
regulate. Also, at a quiet time in the gym, you can listen
to your feet and try and quiet your form, literally.
Conditioning:
Short-arc squats with one leg or two, to protect the knees.
Massaging and rolling muscles to reduce soreness and
compensate for tightness that affects muscle balance. ITB,
Psoas, hamstring, piriformis, calf, glute, quad, back ....
flexibility improvements can help the stride, though typical
static stretching of cold or depleted muscles can make
things worse.
If you google search rec.running, you can find volumes to
expand on any of these topics.
