Two questions:
1. Seems like all the rage these days is about striking mid-foot. Is there a way to figure out where I'm striking? I think my natural gait has me striking midfoot. I run pretty quiet and realize when I'm heel-striking towards the end of a tiring run as I can hear the clop-clop. It would be nice to know for sure though.
2. My typical run is 3-4 miles. Sometimes around mile 2.5 I get a pinching pain deep in my trapezius muscle. It's halfway between the top of my shoulder and neck, and then straight down; almost as if it's behind the collarbone. My hunch is it has sometime to do with my arm posture, although I do try and move them back and forth instead of side to side. Is this a common running issue with a postural fix, or is it more unique to me? I don't wear headphones when I run, so it's not from the uneven weight of carrying an ipod.
1. Have someone watch you, preferably on an outside surface, or failing that on a treadmill, at your normal speed. If the first thing to hit the ground is your forefoot, then you have a forefoot strike. If the first thing to hit is more or less the entire foot (a flat landing), then you are a mid-foot striker. Heel first, heel striker. And yes, running is beset by fads, which you should ignore; the most important thing about your gait is comfort. Whatever strike you have, if you are comfortable and not getting injured, keep it up. And yes, for many people beginning to extend themselves who do run on the mid or front foot, reverting to a heel strike is common as fatigue sets in. Just concentrate on maintaining your gait as you fatigue and you'll soon be able to maintain it. But comfort and injury prevention are the primary considerations when thinking about your gait.
2. Not unique and can be dealt with. There are many things that could cause pain in the upper back/shoulder area. Short of going to a doctor, I would look at the following:
- when you run (or walk or stand still) are your shoulders horizontally even or uneven?
- when you stand still with your weight evenly distributed, are your iliac crests (the highest pointy part of your hip bone) horizontally even or uneven?
- do lean forward or backward when you run?
For these three questions you can have someone look at you running, walking and standing still to make the judgments. If you are not symmetrical (and many, many people are not - I'm terribly skewed to one side), then one possibility is that one side of your upper back is compensating for that asymmetry by working too hard to stabilize your upper body. If this is the case, it can be addressed with stretching and strengthening the opposing muscles, and focusing on running with better body symmetry, with a slight forward lean.
- are your hamstrings/glutes/calves/IT band tight during and after runs?
- do you experience any unusual or very noticeable muscle/joint tightness during or after runs?
If you have issues like tight hammies or glutes, or an IT band issue, your body compensates by making other muscles work harder to balance the asymmetry, which in turn puts pressure on other areas, like your back. From the tips of your toes to the top of your head, everything is in fact connected, and a seemingly small problem like a slight bilateral asymmetry can manifest itself in a sever upper back pain (this happened to a good friend of mine).
My recommendation would be to have someone look at you run for symmetry, then adjust your posture accordingly if asymmetry is noted. If your arm motion is reasonably straight, then that motion should adjust naturally to the posture change. I would also spend some time in the gym on basic core strengthening exercises and light stretching to work out any muscle tightness issues that may be contributing to the problem. You run with your whole body; think about keeping it symmetrical to keep the amount of pressure on both sides of the body, from top to bottom, as even as possible.