Exercise to learn running with a midfoot footstrike (swimming pool needed!)

If, like me you want to move from having a heel strike to a midfoot footstrike when running, then you may also find it hard like me to gain the right feeling of landing with the midfoot.

Every explanation I’ve ever read about midfoot landing never really hits the mark with me. Most descriptions say you land just behind the ball of the foot, but not flatfooted. I found this really hard to get my head round what this should feel like. That is until I was at the swimming pool last night…

To break up the monotony of swimming I thought I would run the length of the pool. This doesn’t mean I was running in deep water - the pool I go to is about 1.5 meters deep throughout it’s whole 25 meter length. So, for the whole length m upper body was out of the water.

As I started to walk and then run along the length of the pool I realised it was nearly impossible to land with anything other than a midfoot footstrike. Anything else resulted in either slowing down or slipping. Actually it was very hard to build up a decent speed. I had to really work the legs and arms and really concentrate on the midfoot strike. It was also very clear how important it was to ensure my foot landed directly under my centre of gravity.

All in all, it was a very good exercise to practice the principles of Chi Running!