Stupidest question ever.

[Bare Lee]

Thanks for the warning about the Pose stuff, Bare Lee. I figure I should walk/run in whatever way causes the least discomfort and just leave it at that.

I was halfway joking, but they are quite persistent. A lot of people have found their coaching useful though.
But you're absolutely right about listening to your body as an opening tactic.

 

[BarefootGburg]

I'm glad you explained what you mean by "shuffle". I once tried to shuffle my foot on the ground - while running, and maybe it was more like scuff than shuffle - to clear something from the bottom of my foot. What I cleared in that idiotic attempt was skin from my toes.

There have been threads about the shuffles and slides that go with stuff sticking into and onto your feet. I think there's a whole scale of responses to the sudden awareness of discomfort and that the scale moves with foot toughening. Sometimes it's just "Hey - what's that? and it's gone. Other times it's "Ouch!" But it goes away after a step or two. Then there's the "OMG! That hurts like hell!" And the next step just drives it deeper as does the next. At that point I might even stop and see if there's a new hole, though there's usually not. I've found that for the most obnoxious bits, stopping enough to slide my sole along the inside of the opposite leg mostly does the trick.

 

[lparker]

Got to this thread a little late. I land on my heel when walking on a smooth surface. On any surface with a few pebbles - ball of foot, on really rough pokey surfaces - mid-foot. And the ONLY stupid question you can ask is the following--

 

[pitbullmamaliz]

Thanks again for all the answers! In case you haven't realized, I have a great tendency to over-think things to death.

 

[Hawkbilly]

Got to this thread a little late. I land on my heel when walking on a smooth surface. On any surface with a few pebbles - ball of foot, on really rough pokey surfaces - mid-foot.

Ditto for me. If the surface is smooth I tend to lead with my heel when walking. But when on gravel my heel is the last to touch down, not the first. And I seem to flip back and forth as the terain changes.

 

[scedastic]

land lightly. it shouldn't matter what touches the ground first if you are landing lightly when you walk.
prancing is cool, tho

 

[NickW]

When I say I land midfoot, I do not mean I prance or that one should prance.

 

[Lomad]

I move NickW's screen name be hereby changed to 'Prancer'

 

[paintboy]

I say put on a rainbow headband and prance away. And I just noticed that one of my children taped a razor blade to my desk. Completely off topic but school has only been out for a week. Makes me wonder.

 

[Sid]

We've all had to start somewhere.

When I first got my VFF's, I didn't know better and was walking with a forefoot strike for a few weeks, and yes, it felt pretty unnatural. (Though, perhaps it did strengthen my calves a bit, which might have helped in the eventual transition with running.)

Now after a bit more experience... Walking with heel strike, and occasional mid-foot strike for really rocky surfaces. Running with forefoot strike with occasional mid-foot strike for really rocky surfaces.

Sure, I occasionally get things stuck to my feet. (Think of it like when walking on the beach!) However, usually they fall off after a few more steps. Occasionally, I'll lightly scuff my foot if it's not falling off, and rarely I'll stop for a moment and brush it off with my hand.

 

[dutchie53]

Count me in as a prancer. I felt myself with a forefoot or midfoot strike when I actually paid attention to the way I was walking. I remember when I was a kid alwyas walking on the ball of my foot. My parents used to tease me about that, and I was in my mid teens before peer pressure made me walk "normal".