Incorrect running style (stride) the cause of my leg pain? help!?

Question

when i run i land on the padded part of my foot below the toes and from that i read your supposed to land on your heel/ball of feet

I get tremendous craps in my soleus muscle which stops me from running at about 2 min's in

i think landing on that spot of my feet might be pulling and putting excess strain on my soleus which causes the cramping

if im right, how do i fix this?

Answer 1

Yeah, if you are running long distance, you should be landing on your heels/ball of feet.

The action of the calf muscles, including the soleus, is to plantar flex the foot (that is, they increase the angle between the foot and the leg). So my guess is, your angle is allowing all the impact to be absorbed from the small surface area of where u land, and because of that angle (plantar flex) when you land, it is straining the soleus muscle excessively.

I guess if you want to fix it, fix the way you are running. Or maybe you can ask the biomechanics experts at http://talk.foot-care.org/

Answer 2

if you are running long distance, you shouldnt be running just on the balls of your feet... thats for sprinting.