It is twenty one months since I started C25k and today was my first run totally on the road (except for the first kilometre, but who's counting). I have always tried to run off road, mainly to prevent stress to my knees, which gave me problems years ago, but also because it is much nicer to be careering wildly across the fields.........as long as they are not at winter quagmire warning level 9. This winter has not been as bad as last for mud, but there are pinch points on my regular routes, around gates and narrow fenced sections, where Somme like Devon clay has reduced running to wading and sliding. Last week, in a field on top of a hill, my heel sank into the sodden, apparent grassy sward to the extent that my shoes almost got sucked off, on several occasions. This was on my favourite 10k route, which is actually 40% on roads, so I decided that I had to take the plunge, get a gait analysis and some road shoes, giving my trail shoes a rest at least once a week.
As a self confessed tight wad this was a difficult decision, but realising that my achilles injury last year occurred while running on the road in trail shoes, I convinced myself that the expense was worthwhile in both injury prevention and trail shoe life prolongation terms. So, off to Runners Need in Exeter, where a highly efficient and seemingly non bullshitting, young salesman parted me from over a hundred (that hurts!!!) quid, leaving me with some flashy Brooks Adrenaline GTS 15s. The gait analysis video was fascinating and the difference that the support shoes made to my pronation was clear to see, with my ankles and knees coming into much nearer alignment and my push off coming from my big toe, rather than the outside of my foot. They don't allow shoes out of the shop, so charging around the store was the only way to find out how the shoes felt while running, apart from on the infernal dreadmill, which was not like any running I've ever done before.
My credit card was very reluctant to let that much go in one transaction, but we battled the technology and so today was road test day. The padding inside these shoes is extreme compared to my trail shoes, rather like getting into a Rolls Royce after being used to a Fiat Panda (the latter of which I am very used to). Once up and running the foot strike is so cushioned that it is isolating in sensation terms, which is the major difference between road and trail shoes, I suppose. I also noticed the hairs on my knees just brushing one another, a new sensation caused by the extra support. My first k of the run was over the fields to reach the road, and the grip seemed adequate, now that it is not quite so wet. This was a variation of my usual 10k run, with1.5k uphill to the summit of Posbury Hill, a slight dip past where I usually head down over the fields to frighten the sheep and then uphill for another .5k to the higher peak of what I have christened P2, which is steeper and more exposed.....I don't think many people ever get this far from civilization. I battled valiantly on through this unexplored landscape until I returned to my familiar route.
I eventually hit the main road, a relative term in respect of Devon lanes, where I actually saw a couple of cars, before diving down the lane that loops back to the valley bottom. It was a good run and the new shoes seem okay, but my ankles are aching a bit now, which is not surprising, I suppose, having my legs supported in such a different way and I was no faster than normal, despite the (almost) sub conscious hope that this extravagant footwear would make me into a shoe in for Rio.
As for road running........well, needs must. I saw very little wildlife, didn't manage to startle any deer, as I often do and grey is not as uplifting as green, but.....in fact...BUT...there was no need to scrub my shoes when I got home and I could probably wear the socks again and that's a first at this time of year! Pbs beckon.......without cross country sections........who knows.......
Keep running, keep smiling.
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IannodaTruffe
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I usually run on a paved promenade and did my first path based run today. I think it probably was easier on my knees but I struggled with the uneven terrain, not lifting my feet up enough and having a near miss with falling flat on my face at one point. and my shoes which work perfectly well on the prom didn't grip as well as I would have liked. It seems the message is different shoes for different things.
A lovely post IT and a really lovely sounding run. Can we assume that your road run is a sign that spring is now here? I hope so.
My shoes are the same but I think mine are the 14's (last year's season dahling) and I've loved them. But your post has got me thinking as they were sold to me over a year ago for road running and since I moved house I now run off road. Maybe that explains a few little niggles I get. Oh dear what have you done IT? I feel a new pair of shoes beckoning.......
Sounds like a good run IT - I think it's good to mix things up a bit as it keeps it interesting. Surprising that you aren't faster on the road - perhaps it's a case of adjusting to the new shoes - enjoy!
I got the neutral version of the Adrenaline, which is the Glycerine. Only worn them twice thus far but they feel very comfy. I am going back to the trails though as my feet are seriously in need of some softer landings
Can't wait to get back out there. Not seen Darby and Joan the geese for ages
Have fun Iannoda. My guess is you'll be back to the trails before long.
As soon as the mud dries a bit, but now I have the problem of choosing which shoes are most appropriate, for the inevitable multi terrain runs. Life is never simple is it?
Nice post Mr Truffe. I could almost smell the deer and sheep dung. Living in the burbs of London, the road is the most local of places to run for me, (unless I go to Richmond park and even then it's gritted paths) and I have never ever run in a filed. The slippery mud would make me nervous of pulling a muscle in case my leg went one way and my body the other! Has this ever happened to you?
I am definitely with you when it comes to the dreadful shock of handing over 100 schekels for a pair of shoes. I did exactly that not that long ago and it freaked me out. Though it sounds like they're extremely good shoes and support you in the way a good shoe should.
Maybe we can meet up in a Copacabana bar and swap running stories the night before we run the marathon, Dan. Remember, you have to give me a head start though, because of my advanced years. As for slipping.....my achilles started aching on the road, about ten minutes after I almost twisted an ankle in a rut in a maize field....so what caused it, I don't know, but as we both do know, we have to look after ourselves, eh.
Very interesting post as I have been doing a bit of hiking this week and wondered about making the transistion the other way. I was wearing walking shoes and my ankles seemed to take a bit of a pounding off road, but I have heard about the fact there is less stability in trail shoes. I am a road runner at heart but might try trail in the future. Thanks for the insight.
Offroad is not just fields RFC, there are beaches and clifftop paths, forest tracks and open moorland. It beats any road any day.....if you have the right shoes.
fantastic ...you have the same shoes as me. It sounds like a fantastic run all in all and I bet even the roads of Devon are looking beautiful. I so miss it!! Our running shop lets you try outside too- thank goodness, as I have never been on the mill and I think I would fall off!!!
I have always run mainly on roads/paths, but last year did a trail run which I intend to do again in May. Last year I ran it in my normal road trainers and definitely could have done with more grip. I did a run on Friday to try them out and really noticed the lack of support compared to my normal trainers. Think I will save them for the boggier days!
Horses for courses.....I know that I couldn't safely run my local (Killerton) parkun in road shoes, but the sales guy said that in my neutral trail shoes I was not properly supported on the road and the gait analysis bore that out. Those mixed surface runs are going to create some decision making problems, I can see.
I am the complete opposite to you - I have run exclusively on concrete and asphalt since day 1 of my running life -- and I wear "minimalist" type shoes like the NIKE Free 5.0's , Saucony Kinvara and now the Skecher Go Run 4 (which is the lightest of them all - almost feather weight)
I figure that at my age ( and the fact that I have spent a lot of my life walking barefoot - can't even remember wearing shoes until I went to High School!) , my walking and running gaits and my feet are pretty well much now all that they are ever going to be - putting them into some kind of foot "cast" which attempts to "correct" the way I walk/run doesn't make any logical sense to me. Perhaps it is also why I remain uninjured after 1000 klms of running over the past 15 months?
I am sure that there is something in what you say, Bazza. I spend most of my life in rigid steel soled and toecapped boots, so any kind of running shoe seems minimal after those. I asked the sales guy about minimalist shoes and he gave me the impression that I would have to relearn how to run. I have always been mildly sceptical about the whole gait analysis thing also, so this is all an experiment, which I hope doesn't cause me any more harm than I have already suffered. Minimalist shoes would not be much use to me around here, given the state of some of our roads. May you remain uninjured, Bazza, for all your running life.
Great run Iannoda, glad your road experience was ok! my shoes were only(ONLY??!!) £85 and that was indeed a painful transaction!! its a shock spending that kind of money on shoes!
I'm the opposite to you having mostly done road running, but just in the process of considering trail shoes to try a bit of cross country maybe! have an eye on an event in October which is extremely off road so need to get practicing if i sign up!!
the non cleaning of shoes is always a bonus though !
Don't tell me your shoes are the same as mine.....I don't want to know that!!
My local parkrun is cross country, as well as almost the entirety of my home 5k run, so the trail shoes made sense from the start, for me. Running on roads has been a necessary thing simply to link cross country sections and recently I have found myself on the road more often, so the road shoe decision has been staring me in the face for quite some time. I am sure you will love running off road. It really opens up so many running opportunities and really gets you in touch with the world we live in, in an almost primeval way. But you do get muddy.
no! not the same but they ARE Brooks ! addiction Vapor ! Quite looking forward to getting muddy really, that does happen in parkrun when we at our original site, at the moment we are decamped to a seafront pavement!
Meep meep!
I'm an exclusive road runner, too. Largely because I normally run very early in the mornings when it's dark. Need those streetlights! I think I'd be very worried about twisting an ankle on uneven ground, too.
Your off road runs sound idyllic, though. But good to mix it up. Hope you enjoy your new shoes! x
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Off Road or road running shoes? Help! 🤔
W7R1 - I felt like a runner today
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W7R1 and I felt like a runner!!!
