Hey! Coach Kyle here.
During a recent long run my left calf was starting to tighten up a bit.
I was ready to end the run and head home, halfway through the workout, when I tried something.
What I did was move from my habitual whole/midfoot landing to more of a rearward landing, which loads the calves less.
This gave my calves some relief and that left calf which had been tightening up was good to go for 10 more miles after just a half mile of me changing my footstrike!
Can purposefully changing your footstrike mid-run help delay fatigue or cramping?
To elaborate more on this topic, one could purposefully change footstrike during long/hard runs to give the legs some relief my changing how the muscles are loaded. On a micro level the muscle fibers themselves cycle out fatigued fibers and in fresh ones, but if you change your whole footstrike on purpose you’re taking it to the macro level.
Research during marathons show that as distance and fatigue set in, people move to a more rearward strike. This is a way your body changes the loading locations, but if you possibly spend a half mile or mile here and there with a more rearward strike before fatigue requires it, maybe you can run a slightly bit better for the entire distance!