Just starting to run - any tips?

[Jonny00GT]

Two biggest things that helped me run w/o pain at a slightly older age...

1. Taking longer to stretch
2. A few warm-up exercises. Probably the biggest one is simply tapping each foot 50-100 times before starting. Takes no time at all but warms up the difficult to stretch muscles.

Man, I just thought you liked the song that came on your iPod!! That or it was some sort of a "Rain-Man" thing! haha!

Sorry...I missed my queue earlier...ahem...Take off the shoes! LOL! JK! Barefoot running + burning building = nickname "Stumpy"!!

Even in supporting shoes, if you haven't been running much or running as hard or long, it's going to take some time for your muscles to acclimate. Shin splints are usually caused from running heal toe and the stop then go style of running will eventually catch up to you in the form of knee, hip and lower back pain. Form is key. Try a mid foot/more flat foot landing with good posture. Check out youtube Chi running and pose method, start slower and work up to speed/distance and never stretch cold.

Lots of good running info on Active.com.

Good luck, Bro!

-Jonny

[dville_gt]

Thanks a lot everyone, great advice.

[OldGuysRule]

Man, I just thought you liked the song that came on your iPod!! That or it was some sort of a "Rain-Man" thing! haha!

Sorry...I missed my queue earlier...ahem...Take off the shoes! LOL! JK! Barefoot running + burning building = nickname "Stumpy"!!

Even in supporting shoes, if you haven't been running much or running as hard or long, it's going to take some time for your muscles to acclimate. Shin splints are usually caused from running heal toe and the stop then go style of running will eventually catch up to you in the form of knee, hip and lower back pain. Form is key. Try a mid foot/more flat foot landing with good posture. Check out youtube Chi running and pose method, start slower and work up to speed/distance and never stretch cold.

Lots of good running info on Active.com.

Good luck, Bro!

-Jonny

Shin splints aren't "usually" caused by heal/toe running.

As far as the "stop then go" (which always cracks me up from the prose runners)... here is a video of the front back elites at the Boston Marathon. A mixture of mid foot strikers and heal-toe strikers.

http://vimeo.com/11574503

If I can find it I'll post up the study done on professional triathletes as well which also shows 50/50 on midstrike versus heel-toe strikers.

The last guy in the video, Meb, is a three-time national champion in cross country and has a silver in the 2004 Olympic marathon and has a very pronounced heel strike.

[Jonny00GT]

Shin splints aren't "usually" caused by heal/toe running.

As far as the "stop then go" (which always cracks me up from the prose runners)... here is a video of the front back elites at the Boston Marathon. A mixture of mid foot strikers and heal-toe strikers.

http://vimeo.com/11574503

If I can find it I'll post up the study done on professional triathletes as well which also shows 50/50 on midstrike versus heel-toe strikers.

The last guy in the video, Meb, is a three-time national champion in cross country and has a silver in the 2004 Olympic marathon and has a very pronounced heel strike.

It cracks me up when people try to dismiss something as folly by saying that that it cracks them up. Don't be a tool! If you don't agree, just site your opinion.

http://www.runningplanet.com/training/running-form.html Check out the first paragraph under "Foot Plant".
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/...3951-0,00.html the video on this page also includes your clip with some commentary on form and foot strike. Funny enough, he mentions your boy, Meb. (FYI, Meb also fractured his hip in 2007 and was sidelined with knee issues in 2010. Would you like to guess how you even fracture a hip bone??? Impact...same thing that causes one of the forms of shin splints. Elite does not mean perfect. Just because you can, doesn't mean it's right.)

I can only speak for what I've studied and what's worked for me. There is tons of studies and video footage showing correct form as well as what is most efficient and easier on the body, so I won't waste the time posting it. Heel striking in shoes gave me shin splints as well as pain in my arches, tight calves, knee pain and tightness in my lower back. I attribute this to my form...not the shoes. I run barefoot because I enjoy it and it keeps me on my form. Since April 1st, I've lost 30lbs. Since June, when I started running totally barefoot, I've run over 120 miles with a 6.2mile long run each week and I'm 230lbs. My arches, ankles, calves and legs feel stronger than they ever have, I actually enjoy running and have none of the issues I use to. I may not be the fastest, but I'd like to be running for the rest of my life...not just till the next thing on my body wears out.

Best advice I've gotten is just to have fun and never stop learning. I get weekly e-mails from this site...good training tips, I think: http://www.active.com/running/recentarticles/

-Jonny

[FunFordCobra]

I thought everyone on this site ran a sub 3 min mile? WTF!

[stangin4lyfe]

I thought everyone on this site ran a sub 3 min mile? WTF!

I do that on the stairmill BACKWARDS!!!

[ceyko]

I thought everyone on this site ran a sub 3 min mile? WTF!

Pretty sure that's just you. I may run a sub 3 minute 1/4 mile.

[OldGuysRule]

It cracks me up when people try to dismiss something as folly by saying that that it cracks them up. Don't be a tool! If you don't agree, just site your opinion.

http://www.runningplanet.com/training/running-form.html Check out the first paragraph under "Foot Plant".
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/...3951-0,00.html the video on this page also includes your clip with some commentary on form and foot strike. Funny enough, he mentions your boy, Meb. (FYI, Meb also fractured his hip in 2007 and was sidelined with knee issues in 2010. Would you like to guess how you even fracture a hip bone??? Impact...same thing that causes one of the forms of shin splints. Elite does not mean perfect. Just because you can, doesn't mean it's right.)

I can only speak for what I've studied and what's worked for me. There is tons of studies and video footage showing correct form as well as what is most efficient and easier on the body, so I won't waste the time posting it. Heel striking in shoes gave me shin splints as well as pain in my arches, tight calves, knee pain and tightness in my lower back. I attribute this to my form...not the shoes. I run barefoot because I enjoy it and it keeps me on my form. Since April 1st, I've lost 30lbs. Since June, when I started running totally barefoot, I've run over 120 miles with a 6.2mile long run each week and I'm 230lbs. My arches, ankles, calves and legs feel stronger than they ever have, I actually enjoy running and have none of the issues I use to. I may not be the fastest, but I'd like to be running for the rest of my life...not just till the next thing on my body wears out.

Best advice I've gotten is just to have fun and never stop learning. I get weekly e-mails from this site...good training tips, I think: http://www.active.com/running/recentarticles/

-Jonny

The Chi's and Pose's make the same mistake the shoe companies made... one thing fits everything. Meb broke his hip due to heel-toe striking. LOL. How about 200 miles a week at sub 5:00 miles? It was a stress fracture which would have happened if it was in shoes or running around the world barefoot.

Your elite comment is silly. You have the elite of the elite who have access to just about any type of training and coach they want. If heel strike offered even a fraction of a minute off a marathon time every one of them at the front of the pack would be running with a mid-strike.

Site me some clinical evidence to your claim "shin splints are usually caused by heel-toe strike."

As far as the articles you posted... the key sentence in the running planet article is "Many runners make the mistake of reaching out in front of their body and landing heel first." Yes, overstride is the source of many injuries. I can also overstride with a midfoot strike and probably a toe strike (although a little difficult and funny looking.)

A little forward lean (at the ankles) foot plant under your center of gravity is the key to injury free running. And yes, you can do that with a heel-toe strike. Work up to 180 plants per minute and you'll have the correct stride length for your body and level of fitness. Your stride will automatically get shorter. Body position and loading angle.

A quick check when running... if your shin is leaning rearward, even ever so slightly, you are overstriding and need to work on more turnover and a shorter stride. It is impossible, at least in the people I've trained, for someone to get to 180 plants per minute and have an overstride.

Where your foot lands in relation to your center of gravity is much more important than the foot strike. Under your center of gravity minimizes foot contact time which in itself will reduce injury potential.

As far as the Runner's World article analyzing Ryan Hall... his college career was full of injuries. Some much for midfoot strike!

In short heel-toe can contribute to over-striding which is the real culprit. Mid strike loads up calf and achilles and toe strike keeps the calf loaded which contributes to shin splints, achilles issues and muscle pulls.

FFC... I can't run a three minute mile but at 48 I can still run a sub-19 5K after a swim and a bike for a 6 minute pace (after a 25MPH average bike.)

Sub-18 stand alone. Hoping to eek out a sub-17 in 2012 which I haven't seen in about 10 years. Heel-toe strike even!

I've run distance for well over 30 years and I'm pretty sure I'll be doing it for another 50 if I'm still alive. Someone has to win the 95-99 age group award.

[Ruffdaddy]

I thought everyone on this site ran a sub 3 min mile? WTF!

No...not everyone only runs above 8 on the treadmill

[FunFordCobra]

Haha! I couldn't run anything close to a 3 min mile if someone had a desert eagle rammed up my asshole!

I'm pretty sure only 90 lb nigerians do that shit with all the practice they get from running away from Simba.

Hey if you can do a 5-6 min mile you are a FastMotherFucker in my book.

[Jonny00GT]

dville_gt: Becoming a student of running, working on my form, taking plenty of rest, easing into it and making sure to have fun running really helped me! Also check out Fartlek training ( http://www.runnersworld.com/article/...2081-0,00.html ) I've heard of some people putting on some speed this way in addition to traditional speed work drills.

The "taste great/less filling" argument over heal strike or not has been going on since the 70s when some fat guy sizzled some rubber to the bottom of his shoe heel with his wife's waffle iron and birthed Nike. If the thrill of the fight turns you on, you can find the back and forth on any running forum. My advice is find out what feels best to you and do that. It wouldn't be a bad idea to search running pain on some running forums and see how some long time runners who were plagued with injuries found relief.

-Jonny

[Jonny00GT]

No...not everyone only runs above 8 on the treadmill

Ruffdaddy's treadmill goes to 11!!!

-Jonny

[ceyko]

Why not just make 10 faster?

[OldGuysRule]

dville_gt: Becoming a student of running, working on my form, taking plenty of rest, easing into it and making sure to have fun running really helped me! Also check out Fartlek training ( http://www.runnersworld.com/article/...2081-0,00.html ) I've heard of some people putting on some speed this way in addition to traditional speed work drills.

The "taste great/less filling" argument over heal strike or not has been going on since the 70s when some fat guy sizzled some rubber to the bottom of his shoe heel with his wife's waffle iron and birthed Nike. If the thrill of the fight turns you on, you can find the back and forth on any running forum. My advice is find out what feels best to you and do that. It wouldn't be a bad idea to search running pain on some running forums and see how some long time runners who were plagued with injuries found relief.

-Jonny

Bowerman fat? LOL. Newb.

Oh yea, stop quoting Runner's World if you want to be taken serious.

[Jonny00GT]

Why not just make 10 faster?

Yeah, but...these go to 11! Haha!

-Jonny