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Comment by rorykoehler | Hacker News Reader

Exactly. Stride and posture are vitally important for a healthy run. As someone with a sprinters build and stride to match any amount of long distance (over 5k) puts a massive strain on my shins. I have a mid foot strike which is quicker over short to mid distances but is completely unsustainable for longer distances (for me at least). Full time running training (5-7 days week) also inevitably results in shin splints. Watching people run in the park it's clear that only ~5% have put any thought into their stride and posture.

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This Principals of Natural Running video[0] is pretty good at illustrating foot strike, running stride, posture, mechanics.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1finiZn4G3E

Great video. Thanks

Most women appear to land on the mid foot or even farther forward. Now, women are in general lighter, and who knows how far the random woman runner seen on the streets is actually going? But I know at least one woman with a very forward strike, and who ran a lot, who was still going in her 50s when I last saw her. I don't recall how my friend with the bad knees landed: but I do remember that her way of pushing off at the end of a stride was distinctive, recognizable from a distance.

By the way, have you eliminated the possibility of compartment syndrome?

I've observed the opposite: the women I see running are generally heel-striking shufflers. But then again, the sample is composed of Parisian women who don't exercise as regularly as they could because of urban conditions and population density (and the resulting scarcity of running estate).

I believe shin splints is a form of compartment syndrome in the tough sinewy tissue between the tibia and fibula. I had to stop running every day after the last bout. Took 4 months to recover from and by that time all the good work had been undone. I try mix it up more these days with biking and when in better shape also soccer (though that can be terrible for the knees too).

The reason I quit training was because a guy in my track group had the same problem and he didn't quit. It resulted in a badly fractured ankle which took him out for a whole season. I hadn't met him before (I was new to the group) but he turned up to training one day to say hi and told me his story which was a bit of a wake up call. We were training very hard at the time, ~15 hour track time (including warm ups) and ~15 hours weights per week.

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