Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil Cuadra
Not being a runner I'm puzzled about your transition to a midfoot strike. I know it's about changing how your foot impacts the ground, but what's the reason for switching?
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It's a good question! The short answer is efficiency.
For the previous ten years of my running, I put my foot out, and it strikes the ground in front of me, with my heel hitting first, I pull back, and my other legs comes out in front of me, hitting with the heel. This means that I'm exerting with each step to "pull the ground back", and heel striking causes extra strain to the hips and knees, with the quads doing most of the work.
In contrast, I've been working with a trainer/physio to help me run smarter and more efficiency. First she started with having me increase my cadence (number of times my feet hit the ground), to decrease the impact as they can't be raised as high. Then she got me throwing my centre of gravity forward, which gives you that feeling like you're starting to fall, which naturally moves your feet underneath you instead of in front of you, and makes it nearly impossible to also strike with your heel. At the same time she got me running on the balls of my feet, like I was "trying to sneak up on someone", light and easy. And the most recent piece to add in is to now kick my heels up in the back and raise my knees, so I get a circular motion to my stride.
This improved form means my calves are the springs that absorb the impact instead of my knees and hips, but the balls of my feet really need toughening up first! I can hold on to my good form for 10km at the most now, but by the time my next marathon rolls around (London, next April), I should be in a much better position!
Oh I forgot to mention earlier, but I'll also be competing in the British Transplant Games in August! Unfortunately the longest running event they do is the 3km "mini marathon" so I'll really have to focus on speedwork and the track if I want to win that gold medal for Kings.
PS: thanks Karen! Hope you're doing okay and your mouth isn't too bad these days.