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.
ROAD TO HELL
Road vs Trail Running
Shoes!
W9R1 - meep meep... Road runner today! 
New Shoes
