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kuwisdelu

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I prefer the treadmill, at least until I lose enough weight where I'm comfortable on cement.

Asphalt is better than cement.

Also, trails.

I'm not sure my body can take the pounding and I'm leery of the redeveloping shin splints that I developed 25 years ago which forced me to quit.

Have you looked at your form?

Overstriding is the most common cause of shin splints.
 

Shadow_Ferret

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Our sidewalks are cement.

And I'm not going to risk twisting an ankle on trails, which also means I have to drive miles to find one.

I'm a heel striker and proud of it. I'm learning to make slower advances. And I'm learning stretching exercises, including using a roller.
 

kuwisdelu

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I'm a heel striker and proud of it. I'm learning to make slower advances.

Not all heel strikes are created equal. You don't need to change your foot strike to avoid overstriding. The main thing is you don't want to try to extend your stride by reaching out in front of you with your foot. Try taking shorter strides.
 

Shadow_Ferret

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Depends on my speed. Jogging or running at a 5 to 6 mph pace I can mid foot strike, but when I sprint, then it's a long stride. I can't figure out how to go fast without the long stride. That just isn't natural for me and it's how I've always run.

I've read that a good running pace is supposed to be 180 foot strikes per minute, but I can't figure out how to get anywhere near that. I average about 135-145 foot strikes per minute. I just can't figure out how to do 180 without ending up running in place. :D
 

kuwisdelu

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Depends on my speed. Jogging or running at a 5 to 6 mph pace I can mid foot strike, but when I sprint, then it's a long stride. I can't figure out how to go fast without the long stride. That just isn't natural for me and it's how I've always run.

It's really not about the foot strike itself. Trying to change your foot strike is too difficult and confusing. Don't bother. At least not at this point.

You can have a long stride without overstriding. You overstride when you try to extend your stride in front of you. To achieve a longer stride without doing that, you have to extend your stride behind you. Push back harder, and let your leg extend further out behind you through the hips.

Your feet should fall directly below your center of weight. Whether it's your midfoot or your heel doesn't matter nearly as much as whether you land in front of your center of weight or on top of it.

When you land with your foot in front of you, it actually acts as a break, and dramatically increases the impact forces, which is really bad for your leg.

Go faster by pushing back harder and further. Not reaching forward.

It's all in the hips.

I've read that a good running pace is supposed to be 180 foot strikes per minute, but I can't figure out how to get anywhere near that. I average about 135-145 foot strikes per minute. I just can't figure out how to do 180 without ending up running in place. :D

180 is a good target, but it is high for an easy jog. Try ~160-170.

It's actually a really good idea to start off running in place and slowly start to let yourself move forward while maintaining cadence, to help get a feel for it.
 
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kuwisdelu

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Yes, I've read about attempting to push and have your foot fall under you. I can't grasp that either. Again, it just isn't natural for me.

It's really mostly about the hip extension.

But regardless, the most important thing is not to try to reach out in front of you to extend your stride. That's very bad for you.

Try this.
 

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I've just started again after two years of not being able to run following injuries. I walked as much as I ran, if not more, but it felt good.

@Kuwi: great info about overstriding. I'll have to keep an eye on this.
 

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It's really mostly about the hip extension.

But regardless, the most important thing is not to try to reach out in front of you to extend your stride. That's very bad for you.

Try this.

Interesting article. Unfortunately, I have an inability to translate what I read into action. My physical therapist lovingly called me a motor moron. I can't look at diagrams and figure out how it works. I need an actual coach showing me what to do.

Still, I dispute the article's claim that heel striking hurts. Or that it jars the body. For me, it's all one smooth motion. I've never experienced foot pain. I also can't figure out how you'd land on the OUTSIDE of your foot without straining your ankle.

If you'd like to come and coach me, that would be great! And I really do appreciate your opinions. I just can't grasp how it works. :)
 

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I've been watching several YouTube videos on form and stride and now I'm thinking I might not be a true heel striker. They show that the leg is straight when they strike thus causing that braking action kuwisdelu mentioned. My leg has never been straight. The knee has always been bent. I'll have to take some video of my stride to analyze, but it's possible that 4+ months on the treadmill trying to work back into shape has modified my stride, shortened it a little, changing it to a mid foot strike.

Interesting.
 

kuwisdelu

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I've been watching several YouTube videos on form and stride and now I'm thinking I might not be a true heel striker. They show that the leg is straight when they strike thus causing that braking action kuwisdelu mentioned. My leg has never been straight. The knee has always been bent. I'll have to take some video of my stride to analyze, but it's possible that 4+ months on the treadmill trying to work back into shape has modified my stride, shortened it a little, changing it to a mid foot strike.

Interesting.

Like I said, the most important part is you should be landing with your foot underneath your center of weight, not in front of it. If your heel touches the ground first, that doesn't really matter nearly as much as when and how your weight shifts onto your leg.

With proper hip extension, this should be pure reflex. You shouldn't try to purposefully move your leg forward and back down at all. That should happen from the biomechanical reflex resulting from extending your leg back during and immediately after push-off.
 
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Shadow_Ferret

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In what might be considered dramatic irony, in order to avoid injury I changed my running mechanics to the more proper midfoot strike.

And now, somehow, I have this pain/weakness that starts at my hip and runs down my thigh. It hurts when I step onto that leg in walking, running, or going down stairs, but it doesnt hurt climbing stairs.

I haven't run in 5 days now hoping it'll go away.
 

kuwisdelu

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Well I plugged my old male times (20:09 5K, 1:33:27 HM) into an age grade calculator to get the female equivalents.

To get back to where I was, I need to run a 22:55 5K and a 1:44:21 half marathon as a female. So those are my new medium-term goals.

Actually, I'll adjust that to a sub-23 5K and a sub-1:45 HM, since I'm not sure which age grade tables are the most up-to-date anyway, and that's close enough.

For my next race, I'm just hoping to get back to a sub-2 half marathon.

I'm hoping to do a 5K before then, though, but some of the most convenient ones nearby in the next few weeks are women-only. Which I would love to do. But that also makes me nervous. Ignoring USATF rules since they're outdated, the new IOC rules say my testosterone should be <10 nmol/L for 1 year prior to competition. I've only been on HRT for 7 months and my T has only been low enough for 4 months (that I have proof of, anyway). But between my testosterone being on the low side of normal for women my age, and basically not running for 3 months earlier this year, I feel like I've basically completely started over as a female runner. So I doubt I'd have any advantage, especially in Boston where there are plenty of faster runners. Still... I just don't want any extra attention.

I don't know.
 
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kuwisdelu

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So it was a wet and rainy B.A.A. Half Marathon. But I'm super happy with it. I went in aiming for sub-2:00, which would be a major improvement over my last half marathon. Besides a decent 5K two weeks ago, I haven't really had a great race since starting transition.

Today I finished in 1:51:17. So I'm officially resetting my PRs to count only races after April 28, 2016 (the date of my first blood tests showing hormones levels in female range). This is my new half PR.

It was a rough, wet day on a hilly course, but I started slow and somehow just kept getting faster. My first 5 miles were 8:38 min/mile, my next 5 miles were 8:26 min/mile, and my last 5K was 8:22 min/mile. Talk about a negative split. Did I mention the first half was downhill and the second half was uphill? o_O My *last* mile was the *fastest* I've ever run since starting hormones.

I really needed this. My training cycle was lackluster, and it's been a struggle to get back on track running with my changing body and new hormone makeup. But now I feel like I can get back to where I was competitively, even if my race times will never be the same.

I'm visiting a friend to run the Richmond Half Marathon in 5 weeks, and I wonder if I can train enough before then to go for sub-1:45, which would bring me back roughly to where I was pre-hormones (relatively speaking, gender-wise, based on age-graded tables).

I'm looking ahead now. Maybe even considering trying to train for a Spring marathon.
 

Shadow_Ferret

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I'm back. Pain free and I even managed 3 consecutive running days where I ran at least a half hour. I haven't done that since the late 80s.

Yes, I've gradually changed my stride, landing more midfoot than heel.

Well I plugged my old male times (20:09 5K, 1:33:27 HM) into an age grade calculator to get the female equivalents.

To get back to where I was, I need to run a 22:55 5K and a 1:44:21 half marathon as a female. So those are my new medium-term goals.

Actually, I'll adjust that to a sub-23 5K and a sub-1:45 HM, since I'm not sure which age grade tables are the most up-to-date anyway, and that's close enough.

For my next race, I'm just hoping to get back to a sub-2 half marathon.

Wow. I'm still working on getting my 5k time down under 30:00. In fact, I just did a PB this week of 30:12. And my fastest mile time so far is 8:40.
 
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