It’s Okay to Heel Strike (sometimes) — Here’s Why from Coach Sage Canaday
When it comes to running form, few topics spark as much debate as heel striking. Many runners worry that if their heel touches the ground first, they’re doomed to inefficiency, injury, or slower times. But here’s the truth: it’s not that simple.
A heel strike isn’t automatically bad. The key lies in where your foot is landing. If your stride causes you to reach far out in front of your body, that kind of overstriding heel strike can waste energy and put extra stress on your legs. That’s the type most runners want to avoid.
But if your foot is landing closer to underneath your center of mass, a slight heel strike can actually be just fine. In fact, it might even be your most natural and efficient stride.
Take me as an example. At age 14, I ran a 16:23 I ran 5Ks in cross country with a pretty obvious heel strike—nothing graceful about it.
Fast forward 11 years: I ran a 2:16 marathon (that’s 5:13 per mile or 3:14 per kilometer), still with the same noticeable heel strike. The form wasn’t picture-perfect, but it worked for me—and it was efficient enough to run fast.
The takeaway: Don’t get caught up in trying to force a “perfect” footstrike. Your body has its own natural stride, and for some runners, that includes landing on the heel. What matters most is avoiding overstriding and focusing on consistent, strong, and injury-free training.
Looking to improve your endurance and pace? Lactate threshold runs can help! But what exactly is lactate threshold?
Lactate threshold is the point where your body produces lactate faster than it can clear it. Training around this threshold enhances your body’s ability to handle lactate, allowing you to sustain faster speeds for longer periods. This is zone 4 in the 5 zone model.
Examples: In Minutes 4-6 x 5-7 minutes (1-3 minute recovery jog) 3-5 x 8-10 minutes (2-4 minute recovery jog) 2-3 x 12-15 minutes (2-5 minute recovery jog) 1-2 x 20 minutes (3-6 minute recovery jog)
In Miles: 3-4 miles 3-6 x 1 mile (2-3 minute recovery jog) 3-5 x 1.5 miles (2-4 minute recovery jog) 2-4 x 2 miles (2-5 minute recovery jog) 2 x 3-4 miles (3-6 minute recovery jog)
Incorporate lactate threshold runs into your training routine regularly to see improvements in speed, endurance, and overall performance.
Should you do the speed workout if you’re feeling a little tired?
This is a question I get a lot from the athletes I coach.
Moving the speed workout (or long run) over a day is of course a good option when it makes sense with the rest of your training or life schedule. However, that doesn’t always make sense, and it’s not uncommon to feel a little tired during the warm-up and then have a great workout! I am intentionally saying a l”ittle tired,” too. To me, there’s a big difference between a little tired and exhausted.
My general guideline is this: if you’re feeling a bit tired and debating whether or not to do the workout, ask yourself if you could slow down by five to ten seconds per mile and still hit the right effort.
For example, if it’s a lactate threshold run, and you think you can back off the pace slightly but still maintain the correct effort, then go ahead and at least try the workout. On the other hand, if you know you’re tired enough and your legs feel heavy enough that you’ll be nowhere near your usual pace, then it’s probably best to skip it.
What I tell my athletes is that you should generally feel consistently good, with just a few off days here and there—and that’s perfectly normal. But if you’re having a lot of off days, especially several in a row, that’s a sign that something needs to change.
There are a ton of nuances to this topic and I can come up with a lot of different scenarios and responses in my head. This newsletter is just to get you thinking about what to do in this scenario!
Whether you’re chasing a new Boston Qualifier time or aiming to break the 3-hour barrier, Higher Running Coach Sage Canaday shares his top three tips to help you run a faster marathon.
Tip #1: Build Higher, Consistent Mileage
The number one principle? Consistent aerobic base mileage. Many runners need to hit 50–60 miles per week—or even up to 100K—to reach their full potential. But it’s not about going fast all the time. You build up gradually, with slower-paced, easy mileage. That aerobic foundation is key to long-term improvement.
Tip #2: Add Quality Speed Work
Once your base is solid, it’s time to layer in speed. This could be as simple as 6 x 20-second strides, or more structured workouts like:
800m repeats
Kilometer or mile repeats
Tempo runs at 10–20 seconds per mile faster than your marathon goal pace
These workouts help make your goal pace feel smoother and more efficient.
Tip #3: Manage Life Stress Outside of Training
Training isn’t just about running. Ask yourself:
Are you getting enough sleep?
How’s your diet?
What’s your work/travel/family stress like?
When I ran my marathon PR of 2:16, I admit my diet wasn’t perfect. I had some pizza, Taco Bell, and even some beer here and there—but I was sleeping 9–10 hours a night and fully committed to the training lifestyle!
Final Thoughts
Factor in all aspects of your life when building your training plan. Consistency, quality workouts, and recovery are all part of the equation.
Running is Life Long! In today’s article we will go over the training considerations for “master age” runners, but for the younger folks, this article is also useful to help prepare you for the next chapter in your running adventure. Something we should touch on now before diving into detail is the typical life stressors folks between the ages of 40-60s can face. Often, we longingly reflect on our ability to simply sleep off a minor injury or a hard training session from our teens or 20s. Something we may not consider is raising families, providing elder care, rent/mortgage. The list goes on and on. Simply point, your body isn’t failing you, there is most likely a lot on your plate that requires extra recovery considerations.
Control the Variables! Obviously, these will apply to all runners, but the needs do magnify a bit as we get older. We must prioritize sleep the best we can. Even an extra 30 min a few nights a week is impactful. Quality food to help bolster recovery and ward off micronutrient deficiencies is also critical. The same goes to regular blood work to keep on top of things.
As we enter our middle-aged years, we may need to find a good OBYGYN and/or Endocrinologist to support our hormonal changes. We won’t dive too much into Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT) in this article. This is best discussed with a medical provider.
Keep your shoe rotation fresh and make friends with a few simple recovery tools, like afoam roller. These little things do add up and assist in keeping us injury free.
Strength Training! Yes, we are starting with this because there are a few key exercises we can program into our training plans to help mitigate age-related tendon degradation and muscle loss. The biggest thing that we lose as we get older is tendon stiffness and strength, particularly the Achilles tendon. Knowing this ahead of time, we can focus a bit on safely doing heavy lifts to load the tendons and some basic plyometric exercises. We focus so much on glute power (as we should), but a lot of our stride length is dictated by calf strength and Achilles stiffness. As we age, we compensate with a little bit of a higher cadence but shorter stride. Protecting stride length protects our ability to maintain higher paces. One thing to note about Achilles stiffness: this means the tendon should be like a coil. A strong coil is stiff and can transfer energy. This doesn’t mean we should be running with tight ankles. We want those to be mobile.
Key things to incorporate into your strength plan: heavy single leg calf raises and bent calf raises. Isometric calf raise holds (hard for 30sec at a time). In general, lift heavy (but safely)..Bulgarian split squats are a great exercise to include. You can try 3–4 sets of 5–7 reps for strength, or 2–4 sets of 12–15 reps for muscle endurance. Start with bodyweight to dial in good form before adding load. For plyometrics, double leg bunny hops are a great start and then progress to single leg bunny hops. To continue the progression, jump squats with a medicine ball and jump down from a box into a half squat and then immediately into a squat jump will do wonders for both bone and tendon strength. Lastly, see if you can set up a camera/phone to record your lifts or have a friend film you. Take note of left/right asymmetries. If lifting is new for you, a journal of things you notice while lifting is good. For example, if you feel less coordinated at the bottom portion of a Bulgarian split squat, and your back is not as engaged, one of the glutes may not have the same power as the other side. Another sneaky one is a stronger foot. Watch for your ankle/foot to roll a bit outward or inward at the top of a calf raise. Big toe mobility is huge with this one. Your ankle will do a lot to compensate and spread the load elsewhere if the big toe cannot bend properly.
Training Considerations! Hills are your friend. Short hill strides 1-2x a week help with power development and running form. They are also a continuation of the tendon strength we want to preserve as we age. Now the good news: our endurance ability does not really decline but our power and threshold can. This is great news because when it comes to intensity, a little bit goes a long way. Simply the hill strides and some shorter intervals on the track really can ward off age related decline. Of course we want to maintain endurance. As we age, we may need to spread out intense sessions just a bit more than in our 20s or 30s but we can hop on a bike or an elliptical to maintain our endurance. Our heart and lungs do not know the difference. It is ok to be creative and substitute a run day with a cross-training day. Particularly, if it allows you to have a very good speed or threshold session. Sacrificing a little bit of general running to preserve a workout is almost always worth it.
Another tip that comes from my cycling days is “big gear work.” I found I could help with late ride fatigue and build functional power by doing intervals that involve pushing a big gear at a low pedaling cadence (requires more torque from the legs). This could be perfect for a runner, returning from injury, who is ready to workout but is not 100% ready to return to running. It is ok to adapt workouts and do them on a bike or an elliptical. Thriving as a Master Runner
Nutrition and Supplements! Fuel is important! Simple as that. We must, regardless of age, give our body the fuel it needs to participate in the activity we ask it to do. Protein right after a workout can be helpful, but research shows what matters most is getting enough throughout the entire day. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7400240/ A lot of athletes have been exploring creatine to help with maintaining muscle strength, hydration status, and cognitive function. Creatine has been around and used by body builders for decades, but a resurgence and diversification of its uses has been prevalent this past year. Women seem to come up with a bonus and respond positively to creatine supplementation. This may be because they have lower creatine stores in their muscle tissue. This is a supplement, not a requirement of course. If you’d like to try creatine, it is always safest to consult your medical provider and if you choose to try it: 3-5g per day is a safe starting point for most people.
Philosophy and the Mental Game! With a bit of planning and staying informed, we can run rather close to our abilities from our 20s and 30s. Having said that, we should also note peak performance will change over time when we enter our golden years. A decline in our relative speed and ability to cover distance is, perhaps, more technically correct, but our running is simply evolving to the phase of life in which we enter. Comparison to one another is the thief of joy and can hamper our own journeys. The same can be said of comparisons to a different version of ourselves. Don’t forget to enjoy this sport for what it can before us: health, travel, closeness with nature, companionship, decompression, and the list goes on! We should always be grateful for our mobility and our sport. Live in the moment. Control what you can control and try not to stress the rest of it.
