This comes up as a friend of mine was complaining about their heal hurting the day after a longer run. After asking a few questions we find they have been running on a treadmill with an incline and yesterday was on no incline. A few more questions and I’m brought back to what I learned from Bobby McGee in a USAT Coaching course. Think back on when you began to run… did someone show you how to run? No! As children we all just run, it is fun. We have all been taught how to swim and taught how to ride a bike. They both took, or are taking, practice. Running also takes practice, practice in the “form” of running. This person, as many are, is a heal striker. Your foot strike should be mid foot, don’t think flat foot or foot slapping but mid foot. All running should be happening behind you. If you strike heal first you are actually stopping yourself from forward momentum. This constant “stopping” is really going against what you are trying to accomplish, moving forward with less energy. draw an imaginary line from your ear to your shoulder, down thru your hip joint, to your ankle bone. This line should be straight when your foot strikes the ground. One way to know you are doing it correctly is have your running partner listen to determine if they can hear you running next to them. Your strike should be easy on you and quiet to them. 😀
Colors, weather, temp, kids sports,… could be our last great weekend before going into the deep winter freeze! Glad we all got out to enjoy it, hope you did too!
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