While running, there are three ways (or positions) in which your feet can strike the ground: Heel, midfoot or on the toes. Many beginners are confused which way is the best for them, but if you're considering training for a marathon or half marathon, you really only have one choice. Your feet should first make contact with the ground on the heel. Preferably right in the middle of the heel and not to one side or the other.
Anything else is inefficient and quite frankly, running a marathon on your toes is very difficult and best left to the very gifted. Sprinters run on their toes; distance runners generally land on their heels. Running on the toes is faster; landing on the heel is safer.
Landing on your heels is also more natural for most runners covering long distances. It places less stress on the leg muscles and absorbs shock better for two reasons: The fat pad on your heel and the rearfoot of your running shoes cushion the shock of running better than say, the forefoot area would.
But heel running is typically associated with slower, plodding-like running. A midfoot strider is usually faster, but also runs a higher risk of injuries, just like someone who landed on their toes would. Normally, the fastest runners in a marathon land on their midfeet and thus, spend less time contacting the ground than a heel striker.
A typical recreational marathoner lands on the flat or outer back portion of the heel and then rolls forward onto the sole of the shoes and finishes by pushing off from the ball of the foot into the next stride. If you land on the midfoot or ball of the foot, you miss the heel entirely (and the added cushioning there) which places a great deal of stress on various tendons of the foot. If this is your natural footstrike, don’t try to change it.
Faster runners can get away with contacting the ground with their midfoot because they are usually younger, extremely efficient in their gait and have been training to run this way for several years.
But for the average runner, heel striking is the way to go. If it feels natural to land in the mid-foot area, try it for a long run and see how you feel afterward. If you’re sore and it was difficult to complete the run, go back to landing on your heel.
However, if it felt OK and natural to land in the mid-foot and you weren’t too sore afterward, stick with it. But still for the vast majority of us, landing first on the heel is the way to go.
