Blog by: Eddy Kiemel (Head Coach Team 4 Miles)
In high school I had a teacher who said to me: “It would be good if you were a little more on your toes, a little higher, because the way things are going now you're just going to get lazy…”.
Luckily this wasn't a sports teacher, let alone an athletics trainer, but an economics teacher who thought I could move up a school level. And indeed, sometimes it's good to be on your toes. But... not while running!
However, it is also a frequently heard instruction in running: "walk on your balls of your feet", often translated as: walk on your toes. If you follow this literally, it will not go well, but as with all wise advice, it is what you do with it that counts.
Three pictures to make it a bit clearer:
Image 01 is the heel striker . Even though the major sports brands tried to make us believe in the 80s that this might be a very good idea with their new shoes: never do it!
Then image 02: the forefoot / toe striker . Where does this come from, and why is it so persistent?
In the first place, this is certainly much better for the knees and hips, so that is good. And landing on your forefeet is fine in itself; it is then about what you do afterwards. The true forefoot runner pushes off again immediately. After all, you have a short push-off, and therefore you are nice and fast. If you have calves of concrete and Achilles tendons of steel, this could very well work for you too. However, most of us have somewhat more elastic Achilles tendons, and they don't handle this quite as well. So, out of the frying pan into the fire: from knee problems to Achilles tendon problems.
But what then?
It is best to land on the forefoot (midfoot is better), but then your heel must then drop towards the ground. The real top runners (Kipchoge and such) let their heel drop until it just barely touches the ground (a bank card just fits between them). We mere mortals just barely touch the ground. Bringing your heel to the ground has the great advantage that your Achilles tendon is stretched like an elastic band, and at the moment you push off that elastic band 'goes off' as it were, which gives you that energy back for free (this works like a spring, so to speak). In short, you run faster, with less energy consumption and fewer injuries.
Are we then completely freed from injuries?
No, unfortunately, because in the end man is not a 'running animal' like a horse or a jaguar. But fortunately shoe manufacturers are now helping us out with the carbon shoe. The shoe -with carbon plate- takes over part of the elastic function of the Achilles tendon, which means it is less heavily loaded. That carbon plate stores energy just like your Achilles tendon and gives it back, and at the same time your Achilles tendon is relieved. You notice this immediately (both in speed and calves/Achilles tendons). But with these carbon shoes your heels have to be pushed to the ground after landing, otherwise the carbon does nothing.
Hopefully my old economics teacher will be pleased that I have started to study a form of economics, namely the running economy. And that teaches us:
Do not walk on heels or toes, but use your whole foot as support for your legs.
Eddy Kiemel (Head Coach Team 4 Miles)
