Running on toes

mulecanter

I've run for decades and always struck heel first. I notice people running occasionally that seem to be running on their toes (balls of their feet). It that a thing? Have I been running wrong for 40 years???

erickirb

I have a sprinting background and when going fast always ball and toe, never heal, but for distance running, I am heal strike first, until I get up to a speed of 7.5-8mph, and lately, other than intervals, I don't go that fast over long distances. I used to 5ks at 8-9 MPH and ran on the balls of my feet then.

jjpptt2

Do you have any problems that would require you to change? If not, then you're probably not doing it wrong. Could you do it better? Maybe. But I doubt you're "wrong".

RoxieDawn

I ran in a half marathon this past Saturday and saw a young lady running on her toes. It truly did spark my attention. I hadn't seen anyone run in this fashion before, she beat me in the half. lol

mbaker566

ideally footstrike should be mid foot but if you don't have that strike and have been doing it for a long time and it doesn't lead to issues why change

if you want a real evaluation...try the local running store.

only6icecubes

Kara, Shalane and Meb did/do pretty well as heal strikers.

It's not how your foot hits the ground, it's how fast you pick it up.

Also, there are a lot of very fast runners who are flat footed, overpronate and don't wear stability shoes.

lorrpb

only6icecubes wrote: »

Kara, Shalane and Meb did/do pretty well as heal strikers.

It's not how your foot hits the ground, it's how fast you pick it up.

Also, there are a lot of very fast runners who are flat footed, overpronate and don't wear stability shoes.

Love it!

GiddyupTim

Yes, clearly a person has more cushioning and spring when they land on the front of the foot and use the calf.
But people have natural running styles, and they vary, it seems.
A few years back, during the minimalist shoe craze, when experts were advocating forefoot running, there was a study done that suggested that people really cannot change their running style comfortably and probably don't need to.
There once was a study of intercollegiate runners from Harvard that suggested that heel strikers got injured with twice the frequency of forefoot strikers. But I am not sure that finding has been confirmed elsewhere. And, certainly, forefoot strikers get injured too.

trochanter

Have a search on Chi running or Pose running.

DX2JX2

trochanter wrote: »

Have a search on Chi running or Pose running.

And then feel free to disregard about 90% of what those 'coaches' try to tell you is an absolute truth!

To be fair, we all run on our toes when we sprint.

mulecanter

Interesting, thanks for the inputs. I've run thousands of miles (I presume) since I started running when Nixon was President. I don't have any intention of changing now--I really was just interested if folks were doing the toe running intentionally. I gather that in most cases they do what comes naturally--even if it irritates me LOL.