Forefoot, midfoot, rearfoot?

[Sid]

A coworker was talking to me about enduring the impact forces in running for his marathon training. I honestly couldn't understand what he was talking about. We tried to relate, but were talking past each other.

So later, I tried something.

Forefoot: Raised my heels and jumped straight up a few times. Not too bad. Feels pretty springy!

Midfoot: Stood with feet flat and jumped up and landed flat, several times. Not completely awful, but not great. I prefer forefoot.

Rearfoot: Raised the toes off the floor and jumped and landed on the heels. What the heck? People land like this?! I feel bad for my coworker!

I don't know if any of the above has anything to do with actual running. I also understand that not everyone has healthy feet and the ability to land forefoot. However, I will say that it took me four years to rehab my feet, and it was totally worth it for me!

 

[SI barefoot]

This reminds me of a demonstration I show people when they ask me about running barefoot. I have them take a shoe off and pound the floor with their socked heel. Then I ask them where in their body they feel it. Then I ask them to pound the floor with their forefoot and ask them the same question. They realize the impact differences but still act perplexed about why I run barefoot.

 

[Sid]

horse... water...

 

[scedastic]

Yes, it's a beautiful thing to no longer worry about "impact" and what my knees will feel like later. I had the worst heel strike ever. I get that there is an impact still now, but I sure never feel it. I rarely think about my form except to make sure I'm keeping good upper body posture. I still tend to look down too much. Running at night makes it better (nothing to see).
For those who complain about impacts and why running hurts, I try to just sympathize.
I convinced one friend this summer to try barefoot, not by telling him to, but just by talking about my own experience. Of course his first time out he tries 2 miles (and doesn't even normally run), got a bunch of blisters, and was in awful pain. Experiment over for him. YES, I talked to him about gradual and all that. Sigh.
Better just to talk past each other.