Your Questions About Heels With Spikes

Maria asks…

What are running spikes?

I am a sprinter, always have been but, just joined my track team, what are they, and do they greatly improve your time, I run the 100m

Our pick of the answers:

Running spikes are just shoes, and in your case, have no heel support since sprinters run on their toes. In the front of the shoes there are holes where you screw in the spikes. I recommend the metal spikes though. They do improve your time by shaving off 1-2 seconds. I do recommend them since I also run the 100m! Here are some sites that sell spikes for a good price : http://www.6pm.com/nike-zoom-rival http://www.vsathletics.com/store/ (go to: Footwear/Spikes; select sprint spikes)

Linda asks…

Do they have running spikes for people that heel strike?

or do they sell products to reduce heel striking?

Our pick of the answers:

I don't heel strike... Your body isn't actually designed to heel strike. Your ankles and knees act as shock absorbers if you run biomechanically correct. "ChiRunning" is a terrific book on proper running form. I read the first half of this and found it very helpful. It is fairly inexpensive and a fairly easy read. Watch a child run, age 7 or younger. Kids run with perfect running form. They haven't been told any crap from someone that doesn't know their butt from their forehead (i.e. Pump your arms, stride out, etc.) and they live relatively stress-free lives. Old habits die hard and this takes focus. Step 1: Plum Line We learn to walk before we learn to run. And we learn to stand before we learn to walk. The same applies to chaning the way we run: we need to change the way we stand and the way we walk if we want to run with proper running form. Find a full-length mirror. Stand with your side facing it and take note of your posture. "Connect the dots" between your ear, your shoulder, you hip, your knee, and your ankle. This line is probably not straight. Straighten the line while looking into the mirror. You will do this by utilizing your stomach, not your butt. There should be a plum line through those 5 points, 90 degrees perpendicular to the ground. If you are find this difficult or even painful, you may want to consider seeing a chiropractor. Practice standing and walking like this. Once you have it down, you're ready to start jogging with proper running form. Now that you have your body aligned for maximum efficiency, all that you have to do is lean forward... Step 2: Lean Forward With your body aligned, simply lean forward. This will shift your center of gravity in front of your foot. Gravity will cause you to begin to fall forward. Step 3: Pick up Your Feet Don't let yourself fall! Pick up your feet. You are now using gravity to help propel you forward. That's It! That's really all there is to it. The biggest challenges are to discipline yourself to maintain proper mechanics and developing the core strength necessary to maintain your body's proper alignment. Tip: A helpful way to remind yourself to check and maintain proper body alignment is to set your watch's countdown timer to go off every 5 minutes. This is a helpful reminder to take a second to do a self-check on your form. As running properly becomes habitual, you could increase the countdown intervals to 10, 15, 20 minutes, and so on.

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