Pavement Pounding - Week of August 27 to September 2

[HappyAnika]

OK, so what's heel striking?

When your heel hits the ground first (first pic). Ideally you should land mid foot (second pic). These pictures sort of show what I'm talking about, but when running the shoe is flexed due to your foot, so the flat foot isn't quite that flat. Does that make sense? Basically when you hit your heel first, its like putting on the brakes with every step, transfers a lot of force into your knee joint. It's similar mechanics to running downhill, which is why running downhill can be really hard on your knees unless you lean forward.