Podcasts should be updated...??

[womblejogger]

Just finished week two of the c25k and noticed something unusual about the advice given, the podcast states when you run you should heel strike first then roll through and not land on the mid foot or on the front of your feet.

Yet the nhs www site and other sources state the opposite that at this level of jogging/running you should not heel strike but aim to land more mid foot.

nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/...

can someone aim to clarify this please I know we all run differently, I find it very hard to run with landing on my heels first, but would like to know if i am doing it "right"

Thanks

Steve the womble jogger

[Rignold]

This is one of the more contentious pieces of advice on the podcast (along with the terrible breathing advice) If you want to avoid injury, particularly as a new runner, foot strike exactly as it comes naturally to you. Do not try to change the way you land.

[womblejogger Graduate in reply to Rignold]

thx rignold, have alwys tried to listen to what my "overweight" body is telling me no screaming at me lol than the advice the podcasts give, always try and get into my own breathing pattern, but was always worried if i was running wrong, i did pose the question a while ago to a member of the denbigh harriers and i am sure he said the same advice as yourself, do what comes naturally to your running style...

[nikkiwabit Graduate in reply to Rignold]

Thanks for that. I was concerned as I had read that swimmers are more prone to shin splints because they tend to land flat footed. I then read the bit that said land mid foot. As I have never run, I tried several ways and decided on mid foot as it felt more comfortable. Nice to have it confirmed that am doing it right for me.

[Shivani05 Graduate]

I had the WORST shin splints when I landed heel first (the first time I ran years and years ago). Quickly gave it up. Feels unnatural to me in any case.

[womblejogger Graduate in reply to Shivani05]

i have short legs and not a long stride, when i run like you said it felt unnatural to try and change my stride/pace/running style just so i could land heel first, i have always landed mid foot (pre-dominantly) and sometimes on the balls of my feet which i read somewhere is in the barefoot running style. luckily i haven't suffered with shin splints doing the c25k but i do suffer with tight muscles on the front of my shin (Anterior Tibialis, had to look this up) which i am hoping more stretching before and after the runs and some yoga in between running days will help

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Just run... however, as Rignold says, in a way that feels natural for you

[womblejogger Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

thx oldfloss

[womblejogger Graduate]

thx guys for the comments, great to see an active and supporting community of like minded runners

[GoogleMe Graduate in reply to womblejogger]

I think you have found the one bit of guidance that can be confidently dumped (I don't know if it appears in the app presentation. There are some suggestions about breathing and other stuff which you may or may not find helpful) The only thing I'd say about Rignold 's comments is that for many people they don't feel like they have a running style in the beginning, it all feels weird rather than natural.

[womblejogger Graduate in reply to GoogleMe]

my phone cannot run the app so i cannot comment on the advice it gives but I always found it odd and contraductory especially coming from the nhs that one thing gives out one piece of advice and their www site another. Running does feel wierd that's why i think a lot of people myself included feel so self conscience running, I am not a natural runner if that makes sense although i have graduated from the c25k a few years ago but let my fitness slide so much i am having to start again

[roseabi]

My feeling is that the advice on the podcast is not completely bad. I think that the idea behind it may be that, when you are starting out running from the couch you are likely to be going pretty slowly, and to not be lifting your feet very high, hence a sort of slow-motion step is advised. The idea is to land as softly as possible (which is also mentioned by Laura), so to land heel first and then gently roll forward makes some sense to me. Of course, if you find you naturally tend to land nearer your toes, you will find it uncomfortable to strike heel-first. But my bet is that if you could video everyone starting on the C25K programme you would see a lot of heel striking!

The podcasts must be pretty old by now I reckon, and there has been a lot of discussion about the natural human running gait, and how it is affected by running shoes. This had lead to the accepted wisdom that heel striking is not such a good idea - I'm not necessarily disputing it, but as a caution I would say that a lot of the research done has looked at elite runners, who run very differently to me, and maybe you! Although I'd cheekily sneak in the notion that a video of elite runners would still show quite a lot of heel striking, and I might suggest that there's rather more to running gait than just the way our foot contacts the ground