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I went by a free running clinic put on by Newton Runners today. The coach was Steve Mackel from SoCalrunning.com .

Steve is in town for the Vancouver Marathon. He is a certified CHI running coach as well as a Newton Natural running clinic teacher. We had a great time. Steve gave us a brief technique talk on natural running. His personal style is influenced by CHI running and he did a great job of incorporating that into the natural running talk. Steve also gave us a bit of shoe knowledge regarding profile (is the heel or toe higher-most shoes have a lift from toe to heel our foot prefers to land flat). Then we got out and did some drills.

Steve Mackel in Vancouver for Newton Natural Running Clinic to discuss forefoot running

I really liked Steve’s approach we started top down (head to foot) and worked on whole body alignment, core engagement and foot placement. We did all of the drills at three speeds so we could work on technique.

The best three things I learned were:

1. Proper alignment with core engaged- Steve had a great test where you could press down on someones shoulders very hard if they were stacked with their core engaged. I found I was not in neutral pelvic tilt, I was anterior tilted and core NOT engaged.
2. Speed increases- He showed us how to increase our speed by picking our heel up higher behind us and the same for arm swing. Great to have these small tips for that last few Km’s when you feel like your are dying you can concentrate on one thing to keep or increase your speed.
3. Foot position- We started with the basics of foot positioning. Sounds obvious, but next race you are at check the varied foot positions you see (internally or externally rotated). Foot position will affect the rest of your posture. So you cannot be getting in proper alignment if your feet are not properly placed. We did some great drills for this.

Steve was really personable and funny. He made the time fly by. I will be following his blog posts and running tips. Thanks to Forerunners and Newton runners for sponsoring this event.

Craig Boyd is one of Vancouver’s top personal trainers, CrossFit coaches and boot camp instructors. He is an avid forefoot runner and has taken work shops on POSE, CHI and Natural running. His websites are http://www.precisionathletics.ca/ and http://precision-bootcampvancouver.com/

This is the first in a series of posts on forefoot running. Basically, forefoot running is landing on the mid foot instead of having your heel strike first.

Our feet are not designed to land heel first. Our ancestors ran barefoot. Try it. Run with no shoes on and you will naturally land on the mid part of your foot. Watch children they run on the balls and mid foot. Modern running shoes are of heel support. This encourages a heel first landing. Running barefoot is a great way to strengthen the muscles in the foot and ankle. However, most people run in areas where foot wear is required for safety purposes.

What is wrong with landing heel fist? Landing heel first usually occurs with the knee straight. This leads to force transfer from the ground into your leg. Because your knee is straight the force is transferred up into your knees hips and back. Many runners complain of knee pain.

A heel first landing usually results in slowing the runner down as they roll from heel to toe to take the next step. The

Heel first landing- causes force transfer to the shins and knees

more time a runner  is spending on the ground the less they are spending in the air. Essentially more ground time equals less air time and a less efficient running pattern. Efficient running has less ground time than time in the air (when neither foot is contacting the ground). Logically the less time on the round the less time  force is being absorbed by the body.

In this photo you can see the runner is leading with the heel and it is out front of their body. This will lead to the heel striking first and a long period spent rolling form heel to toe.

Mid-Foot strike note calf is loaded, knee is bent and foot is not reaching out front.

In this picture the athlete is landing with a mid-foot strike. When landing on the mid-foot you will note the knee is slightly bent and the calf (gastroc and soleus muscles) is loaded. The calf is now absorbing the shock instead of the knees and hips. Also note, the foot is no longer out front of the athlete. This will result in a shorter ground time as there is less contact area with the ground. No longer does the foot need to roll form heel to toe, for the next step to begin.