How do you experience fatigue in running?

**saku39** · Posted On: 1/10/2009 11:59pm

james and zaohu have it right, it is your breathing stretching the ligamentum teres of your liver when you exhale while landing with your right foot (exhalation is caused by elevation of the diaphragm which thus elevates the liver, stretching said ligament, combined with stretch of your right leg leading to the side stitch).
BUT, I must disagree with zaohu about heel striking. Dont do it. Take off your shoes and go for a run, you will find out very quickly that you will naturally run on the balls of your feet. People are built to run and modern tennis shoes are the only reason people can heel strike for long distances.
But, you can forget that, just think of it biomechanically. If your heel is landing in front of you, then you have no way to propel yourself forward. Instead you must wait for your forward momentum to carry your hip over your heel before you can propel yourself forward. Not to mention much of your forward momentum is absorbed by your bones from the impact. By running on the balls of your feet, you store that forward momentum in the muscles and tendons of your feet and lower legs, returning much of it to your forward propulsion. What is more, the second your foot lands (basically under your pelvis) you are pushing off again. Add to it the growing evidence that connects heel striking to injuries and lower leg weakness, and there really is no reason to keep heel striking besides stubborness.

**JKDChick** · Posted On: 1/11/2009 12:57am

Originally Posted by FriendlyFire

I never thought of it, but I do breathe in a pattern so that may well be my problem, thanks. I am mostly curious how many people struggle because of muscle endurance (ab,calf,ham, whatever) vs how many struggle over cardiovascular endurance.

It's definitely cardio fatigue for me, but the odd thing is I don't experience cardio fatigue while fighting.

At the first Vancouver Throwdown, I think Anthony or Vargas called me a machine because I never got tired.

On the mats, on the gym floor, I don't experience cardio fatigue until I'm about to pass out, but running? 6 minutes in, I'm walking and whimpering. I suppose it's an adrenaline thing.

***Cassius*** · Posted On: 1/11/2009 2:27am

Originally Posted by zaohu

rolling your feet from heel to toe with each step.

This is not proper running form. Everything else you posted, I agree with. Heel impact is bad for you. Amateur runners do this a lot as a result of stretching their strides to an unreasonable degree, and it's bad for your knees. You actually want to land with your feet as directly underneath you as possible, which results in what is referred to as a midfoot stride. This is the stride career long distance runners use, and they do not develop leg injuries at a rate signficantly different than non runners. Sprinters run with shorter, choppier strides, but they are still usually midfoot strides, as that's the most efficient way of doing things, and the safest.

**JKDChick** · Posted On: 1/11/2009 4:17am

See, I'm a heel striker by nature with a tendancy to pronate. I take this as the gods telling me not to become a professional runner.

***Cassius*** · Posted On: 1/11/2009 10:39am

You can retrain your stride with some work. Basically, just try to make your feet touch the ground directly underneath you when you run, and the rest should take care of itself. The size of your stride really isn't that important, so don't worry about trying to take massive leaps with each step.

***jnp*** · Posted On: 1/11/2009 11:51am

My dad taught me to run on the pads of my feet, the area of the foot immediately below the toes.

Thoughts?

**dumblucky** · Posted On: 1/11/2009 2:16pm

Originally Posted by jnp

My dad taught me to run on the pads of my feet, the area of the foot immediately below the toes.

Thoughts?

If you over do it, you're asking for an injury. And by over doing it, I mean run a long distance or over emphasize placing all your weight on the balls of your feet on the landing. Mid foot stride is best for long distance and straight lines because it spreads out the landing impact and (if your foot is underneath you) gives you a good base to push off from.

You may want to run more on the balls of your feet if you are playing a field sport and need to decelerate and switch directions quickly.

**saku39** · Posted On: 1/11/2009 9:53pm

Originally Posted by JKDChick

It's definitely cardio fatigue for me, but the odd thing is I don't experience cardio fatigue while fighting.

At the first Vancouver Throwdown, I think Anthony or Vargas called me a machine because I never got tired.

On the mats, on the gym floor, I don't experience cardio fatigue until I'm about to pass out, but running? 6 minutes in, I'm walking and whimpering. I suppose it's an adrenaline thing.

Sounds like your cadiopulmonary system is strong but that the vasculature, calcium kinetics, enzymatic activity, etc. specifically in your running muscles are inadequately developed. When you are running and gas out, how do you feel? your muscles?
do you warm up adequately?
what is your pace like?
improving your running technique will help too, but only in proportion to how shitty it is now and how much you work on proper form.

**JKDChick** · Posted On: 1/12/2009 2:09am

I can and have improved my running just by running all the time (I was training to specific purpose at a specific distance). I just don't really enjoy it like I do fighting, so I think the mental component is the missing thing.

**..n..** · Posted On: 1/12/2009 9:49am

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']I’ve been focusing on running “stronger" recently- using a good push from my glutes with good posture and arm movement throughout my runs. I should have been doing this all along but got caught up trying to increase distance over quality of movement and got out a bit ahead of myself. I find that when I start to lose form I tend to push move off my toes more which cause my lower legs to pump full of blood and can make running a bit more or a chore than necessary (edit: it hurts like hell!). [/FONT]