Becoming a forefoot runner

I hired a gait specialist to help me with the transition. I have been mid-foot running for a month at the most. I was just talking to him about how frustrated I am. I am still not comfortable with the gait. I am taking it slow. I can run 3 miles right now on my mid-foot. I am much more efficient, like a full minute faster per mile. I DO NOT have the aches and pains I used to have. I suffered constant left knee pain. Sometimes my right hamstring will let me know it is not happy. I guess that is completely normal because I am using muscles I haven't used.

My heart rate is driving me crazy. It has been really high. So, now I am banned from using my Garmin. I can run with a watch that is it for a month.

Oh and I am running in Newtons. I can't even imagine going back to my old over built shoes. I do have my orthodics in them.

Edited by TracyV 2010-04-19 11:34 AM

Any particular reason you have decided to change your running mechanics?

Shane

I have always been a forefoot runner, but recently switched to a flatter/midfoot strike shoe. I found that my calf mucles and achiles got really sore, to the pint where I had to frequently take days off rom running. One of the things I did to help is switch my day to day shoes. All of my shoes/work boots has raised heels which makes the stretchiung caused by running in flatter shoes even more dramatic. I now wear a pair of flat shoes or sandles every where I go unless we get an emerg call on the ambulance then I put my boots back on. I found that after a few days of doing this the pain began to subside.

To answe your question 5... I wear New Balance 800's. They are a lot cheaper than Newtons and Eccos, but hard to find as they have been discontinued for the 801 which is narrower and now has a medial post.

Why????  Was something wrong with the way you were running before or are you just jumping on the bandwagon because someone who doesn't know any better told you to?

Not trying to come across as offensive or anything, just really curious as to your reasoning?

I've been working on it for a few months now, but I should preface that with I was never really a runner before then.  I did read Chi Running though, and wanted to try to become a more efficient runner.  Also, when I did run in my Navy days, I usually wound up with Patella femoral syndrome and ITBS issues so I definitely wanted to make sure my running form was correct. 

It's still a work in progress and I have to constantly remind myself to run on the forefoot.   I wouldn't say I'm faster, but I did do a 7 mile run yesterday and I only have a tiny bit of tightness in my knees today.  Knock on wood, but I haven't had any type of injury since starting forefoot running. 

As for shoes, I can't afford the Newtons, so I just use my normal running shoes!!!

great question...to be honest, I'm a bandwagoner, and there was nothing wrong with my running per se, i was landing under my torso, however, i noticed that my speed was just plateauing, even after speed workouts, flexibility workouts and etc.  I am just trying something new, to see if it works out for me.  I figured now would be the time to try something new, and if it doesn't work out, ill go back to the old ways.   But I'm trying to work really hard on the running to BQ, so im just trying out new things...

Edited by mrbigheado 2010-04-19 11:54 AM

 6-7 pages -- even money
4-6 pages  - 40 % chance
2-3 pages - 27%
8 pages + - 18%

What is your weekly running volume?  Average montly volume?  Average pace?  Recent PBs?

Shane

did you ever consider you were not running nearly enough to either A hit that BQ Time, B, Not enough to see any gain from speed work, or C, all of the above?


As to the forefoot switch, the three people i know that tried it all ended up with injuries that took them out for weeks/months, or by the time they got ok with it they had lost a year of running and were much slower.

I used to be a heel striker and changed to forefoot last September.  I wish I was reading around this site before the change, I would have taken the transition more easily and put less miles in.  I ended up having sore ankles and injured upper calves.  I would get the calf pain after about 2mi and if I ran anything over 5mi they would kill me for the next few days.  I went to see the doc and he had me go to physical therapy, which they had me change to mid-foot striking.  Since then, I've had little to no pain and was even able to finish the half mary I was training for.  I think the thing about forefoot running is that some will over exaggerate striking the forefoot and in turn hardly putting the heel down, which is what I was doing.  Another important thing I learned from PT is planting your foot under your COG, whichever running style you choose.  I think the best thing to do if you want to change your gait is to have a pro look at it first to see if anything is wrong, because changing it yourself by reading off the internet can possibly get you injured.  Just my personal experience.

I probably was not running enough miles to see gains for sure.  I was averaging anywhere between 30-50 miles a week.   And in terms of whether or not I waited to see gains, and not running enough, I will say yes to both of them.  But even with the two, isn't there still something to say about running form and speed?  In terms of speed, I was going anywhere between 7-7:30 on 4-6 mile runs, and on 13 milers i would be doing a 7:56-8 pace...thanks for the input...

speedwork is that last little bit, sort of like tapering for a race.

or in crude terms, think about it like this.

You have a race car, and you have a mini van.
put hi octane fuel in the mini van, great, but its still a mini van.

to run faster, you need to run MORE. top mile runners, and 5k runners, are not out banging out more and more 400s on the track, they run a LOT more (70-120 miles a week). then they run some of that faster. If you are running your 13mi at 8min pace, you prob simply need to run more, for a long time. ie months/years, not a few weeks.

form will come with more time running (assuming something is not wildly off).

Where you land on your foot will have little/no impact on speeds, where you land in relation to your body will.

HA! Beat me to it.

 6-7 pages -- even money
4-6 pages  - 40 % chance
2-3 pages - 27%
8 pages + - 18%


dumb question...don't understand what this means.

thanks newbz...so would you say that running volume trumps form?

i think that unless you have some serious bio-mechanical errors that running volume DOES promote form.

The ease and smooth form you see with a lot of good runners comes from doing it ALL the time. Like with anything else doing it more and more promotes comfort and ease.

We are built to run, your body will sort out most of what it should be doing.

It doesn't trump it. It helps develop it.

I would also include running drills.

It's the odds on how long this thread will get.  This is a very controversial topic right now because barefoot running is really trendy.  Just try typing it into the search engine, you'll be surprised what you find =)

What does your weekly/monthly volume look like?  Just a quick look at your logs (not sure if they're accurate) but you've only run 52 miles since the beginning of March.  I would try upping your volume before you trying something radical like changing where your foot strikes and barefoot running.

1. 6-8 months. I went through the normal bad calf pain and aching achilles for 3-4 months before my body started to adapt.
2. No direct change in speed. Speed is a result of training. The switch allowed me to train more and that resulted in more speed. If you are already able to train sufficiently with no pain, there likely will be very little, if any, improvement. Regardless of form, far too many people do not train sufficiently to have solid improvements. There is no magic form that eliminates doing the hard work.
3. No knee pain at all. My reason for changing was entirely due to lessening the impact on my joints and it has worked very well in that regard.
4. I did no other drills
5. I made this change 7 years ago and there were no special shoes back then. I used my regular shoes. I do have VFFs now and use them about once a week to make sure my form is staying good thoughout a run.

yeah, my swim bike run has decreased significantly after the HIM, been trying to get back into it. I was just thinking the opposite, that if I continue to run longer miles in an ineffective way, my body would acclimate itself to that form and I would log in a bunch of miles running the wrong way without going anywhere...this is refreshing

 Sorry .. just joking around,, there are certain topics that once they get going have a habit of getting people worked up and before you know it the thread is multiple pages in length,, so I was just guessing how long this one would be. 

to your original question I dont' think where your foot lands is as important as using good form. 

I am not forefoot running. I am midfoot running. The reason I changed my gait is due to poor mechanics that were causing all sorts of injuries from pulled hamstrings to hip flexor issues. I had to change or I was going to tear my hamstring off my glute. There are reasons to change your gait.

No one is saying there are not reasons.

However, in the absence of a compelling reason, why bother with it?