It is not uncommon to hear of runners who develop back pain during or after a run. In some instances, runners have had herniated disks. Whether this problem resulted from running or some other activity is not known but the possibility for it occurring when running is there.
One of the main reasons for back pain during and after running is ineffective technique, mainly landing on the heel, especially with the foot angled upward approximately 45?. In this situation, there are tremendous landing forces acting on the foot and leg.
Although running shoes are supposed to absorb the landing forces, they are ill-equipped to handle all of the forces that occur in such landings, especially after the shoe is somewhat worn down. If you run for a long period of time with such technique and the shoes aren’t capable of cushioning most of the forces, the forces will travel up the body into the lower back. As a result, you can develop severe back pain or even rupture a disk.
Most effective to improve your running and to prevent back problems is to modify your running technique so that you land mid-foot or ball-heel. With this type of touchdown, the muscles and tendons are better capable of not only absorbing some of the landing forces, but withstanding them. These forces can then be given back in the push-off, making your run more economical. As a result, your speed will increase as your chance of injury will decrease.
See Explosive Running for more details on how to execute a safe and effective landing. The landing is illustrated with pictures taken from live digital film and recommendations are given on how you can make these changes in addition to improving your running at the same time.