Marathon Me

Flying home from New York I was reading Runners World and in the Fact or Fiction section, they had the following question:

Q: Running on pavement is bad for your joints

A: Fiction. Runnings impact is actually good for you; it stimulates bone growth and strengthens muscles. And while softer surfaces like dirt and grass are believed to help absorb impact, achy joints are more often caused by training errors than running surfaces.

I, always one for controversy, sent it out to the Hill Country Trail Runners mailing list. I had primed the pump by stating I thought they’d get a different response from Trail Runner Magazine, or Marathon and Beyond. Runner’s World’s answer set off a massive flurry of email responses that ranged from agreeing with it to violent opposition. Speculation came in as to what “training errors” are, and the general consensus was that it was “not running on trails”.

Bill Patience a Local Austin runner broke down best running surfaces as follows:

Best Training surfaces in order:
1- Trails
2- Asphalt
3- Concrete :p (not recommended)

Which led Fred Coogan to add some additional color:

Snow

Ice (with traction)

Brambles

Loose Rock

Cactus

Sand

Slippery Mud

Stickey Mud

Sucking Swamp Mud

Road or Trail? It is an interesting question. I do most of my running on the roads primarily on concrete sidewalks (This is because I am on the road a lot and just start running from the front door of my hotel and try to find my way back home). But I really do enjoy running on the trails. For me, I feel that I recover faster after running on trails, but I will also get more sore. I’m not sure if I recover faster simply because I am running slower or if its the impact that is actually lower. I have a feeling its a little of both. On the trails I probably run 8:00/M - 9:00/M depending on the course and the distance, but on a road marathon I between 6:30/M - 7:20/M depending on the course at what point I am at in the race.

There is the old golf ball analogy that seems to make sense to me: take a golf ball and drop it from shoulder height on concrete, asphalt and soft trail. Watch how high the golf ball bounces back up and that’s the impact that is coming back into your leg when you run. So by this reasoning it is clear that it should be: trail, asphalt, concrete, at least for minimizing impact. But is it the impact that causes injury, or do road runners get beat down by repetitive stress? Trail runners are constantly using different muscles and stressing their tendons and joints in different ways which make them stronger. Ideally you’d be able to find time to run on both trails and the road.

So the impact seems to resolve in favor of running on trails. But, for me, I find that I land a lot harder on trails than I do on the road. This could be because I suck at trail running. I stay pretty even when running on roads. I know where the ground is and I am not jumping over rocks, kicking roots, sliding on sand or down loose rocks. Which are all things I love about trail running, but several times per run on the trail I will misjudge the depth of a rock or a hole and send a monster shock wave up my leg. Which doesn’t seem like it can be all that good for me

I believe the biggest difference between road and trail running is the attitude. Trail runners seem to be more into the journey and finishing than running as fast as you can and not taking in the scenery (which granted is almost always better in a trail race).

Trail running takes me back to what I imagine it was like thousands of years ago, when you ran to find food, to find shelter and because it was fun; and you had no other choice. It was your only means of getting around and so you did it. I think a lot of the obesity problems we have today are because people who get out and move and be active. So I say road or trail, doesn’t matter, just pick one and I’ll see you out there.

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