[Asooka]

Don't you lose about 1/3rd of your stride when you strive to land on the front of your foot as opposed to the heel? Doing heel first lets me put my leg way in front of me as I land on it, then roll over it and push forward once my foot is directly under my body, like a spring. This means longer, more powerful strides. To land on the front of the foot, my leg would have to be very close to my body, meaning shorter, quicker strides. I tried doing this style of running - landing on the front of my foot as opposed to the heel, but I found myself having to use strides way shorter than what I'm used to. Is this correct, i.e. are the strides you have to use noticeably shorter and I would just have to get used to it if I want to do it that way?

[jmulho]

Here is the theory. Lean forward until you start to fall. Put one foot out to catch yourself. Note where your foot lands. This is where your foot needs to land to stop a fall. You will feel a significant jolt. You have successfully sucked up all the energy of your fall and stopped yourself. You put on the brakes. Now try this again, but place your foot short of where you did the first time. You shouldn't fall, but you will keep moving forward and will need to take another step to stop the fall. Now you have stopped yourself from falling over two steps which is less jolting. Now try again and place the second step short of where you would need to place it to stop, then the third, then fourth. Now you are running. If you want to go faster, shorten your stride and focus on turning your feet over as quickly as you can. If you want to slow down or stop, lengthen your stride and absorb your forward energy. You could overcome the braking action of a long stride by pushing off hard with your back foot but this is not as efficient and harder on the joints. That's the theory. The way to find out if it works for you is to experiment. For me, as soon as I understood this, running became a lot easier. If it works for you, be sure not to overdo it at first.

[devdad]

Yes, many more and shorter stride is the way to go. A good way to get into it naturally is joining a trailrunning group. (I'd recommend buying a pair of inov8 for the trails, but that's another topic.)

Edit: Anecdotally, I know a bunch of really great runners and they all have a strike where they land on the ball of the foot.

[brahmwg]

Not a kinesiologist, but I think running landing on the ball of the foot will be more energy efficient, recycling momentum more effectively than heel-first landing. Eventually, you'll get faster and better at running using the ball of foot landing, at least that's what happened anecdotally for me. At first it was a difficult transition, but long term more efficient and effective.

[glibgil]

Yes, the stride will be shorter, but you get used to it. You can still produce a longer stride by "kicking" out as you lift off and trying to raise your knees up as high as possible