Running on hard surfaces

[crystaltips42]

I always make a point of running on mud, grass and the like, which is annoying as I have to keep interrupting my run to cross over tarmac, but I often see other runners who seem to be running long distances on hard surfaces. I was always taught that this was a big no-no. What's going on here? Do they have special shoes or something?

[Roxdog Graduate10]

I don't think you need to worry about running on tarmac some of the time. Like you, I tend to run on softer surfaces, but of course during winter these surfaces can be difficult due to mud etc. Lots of people run solely on roads/pavements and there is more impact on your joints. However, if you don't have any joint issues you'll probably be fine. I would just do what you can and stick to softer surfaces as much as possible. Good luck.

[Hidden]

I do all my running on path/road and have been ok up to now. Try the tarmac, you may prefer it 😊

[Speedy60 Graduate10]

I run almost exclusively on paths and roads. I don't know where else I'd run near me, except circuit after circuit of the local park. have decent shoes and try very hard to keep a good posture and stride. No problems as yet. 🤞

[a_in_gsr Graduate10]

I too run always just on the pavements. Many of us do!

I think form wise its important not to be hitting the ground with your foot i.e. more of a pawing action; as to not increase the impact of your feet.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10]

Medical thinking in the 70s and 80s, even early 90s, was that the impacts of running were very bad for our knees... and this if we must be so stupid as to run, we should try to avoid hard surfaces while being crazy.

The half life of knowledge in medicine is pretty short... and running is one thing that is now seen differently my the medical profession. It’s been proven that the impacts actually strengthen joints and increase our bone density. Obviously this takes time and is one reason why we don’t go from running 5k straight into a HM next week! Sadly, as with the myths around 10k steps, new knowledge takes time to become common knowledge... and so there remain some doctors who think that running is bad for the knees in particular... and when it comes to the all knowing internet, it could take decades! There was even a study that showed the impacts from running are less than walking... not many people walk marathon distances and above, and most who do don’t do it on roads/pavements, so data is hard to produce comparing injury rates. There’s a show on iPlayer called The Truth About... the Getting Fit episode covers all this and more... I believe that it’s still available.

Good running shoes reduce the impacts, and the right shoe will keep the strengthening benefits while reducing the risk of injury.

This all said... this weekend is the elite marathon, and the majority of the elite men and women do most of their training on the trails, where each footfall is slightly different... this probably won’t apply to those in the wheelchair races, which I’m looking forward to watching as they will finally have the coverage that they deserve. This helps with all round joint strengthening and also is advised for anyone running with arthritis.

Hope this helps.

[nowster Graduate10 in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Cushioning can disguise the impact forces and some think that makes it worse (because you don't feel the forces as much and don't react and adjust to minimise them). Improving running form (eg. not heel striking) is also beneficial.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10 in reply to nowster]

In most cases yes... but with form there’s also an argument that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, some people are actually more likely to be injured by running “correctly.” I was even reading about a guy who suffered for years with his achilles running with good form and the issue was with his wrist... a physio went through his whole injury history and worked out that a childhood wrist injury was causing the brain & muscles to protect that wrist... good form then caused issues as his body didn’t want to run that way. Weird story, but with some specific exercises to reset the brain/muscle his issues went away. The strangest bit of the story was that he could do a strength test on the leg... and when repeating it while holding his wrist, the leg was suddenly stronger! It was in this book amazon.com/Rise-Ultra-Runne... and I think that’s where there was a physio saying that nobody actually knows how we are supposed to run. Kids don’t heel strike though, so that bit seems to be absolutely not how we are meant to be doing it.