I’ve been running primarily off road for the past 20 years, except for races, but I may be doing more running on pavement soon. I’ve believed that running off road reduces injuries, but I remember reading something in Runner’s World a couple of years ago about a study that showed that running on pavement strengthens the legs and doesn’t cause more injuries, as long as volume increases are gradual. I haven’t been able to find that article doing a Google search, but I did find this one: http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/running-injury.html
What do you think? Will I be OK returning to the pavement if I ease into it? I’ll be running 20 to 30 miles a week.
The “literature” has known this for years. But, most people think otherwise.
However, each can cause issues as the injuries are just different. For people with DJD/joint issues (knees, hips) but no soft tissue stuff like ITB syndrome, plantar fasciitis, etc., then offroad/grass/trails are often better. The opposite can be true for the more typical running injuries though.
From the Jeff Galloway “Fact or Fiction” column in the Jan 2009 issue of “Runners World” magazine.
“Asphalt is softer than concrete and treadmills are softer than both. FICTION. While some people say they feel the differences among the surfaces, after coaching more than 250,000 runners, I haven’t seen any difference in rate of injury or fatigue when running on asphalt, concrete, of treadmills. You can reduce the impact on your body on any surface by taking enough walk breaks from the beginning and wearing a running shoe that fits your foot well.”
In the Southwest US, the trails tend to be as hard as concrete, without the benefit of providing a smooth surface. Some people here swear that they feel less beat up if they run on trails, but I think a lot of that is because everyone in this area is so much slower when they run on the trails here. A 10-12 minute mile on a trail (or anywhere) is easier on most people than a 6-8 minute mile on the road.
what rroof said - the injuries are different, not necessarily more on road than off. My neuromas are happier off-road, but ITB is usually happiest on a flat surface.
Certainly you can adapt to road running, at that mileage if you ramp up gradually there shouldn’t be any problem. My preference is to run off road whenever possible: mostly because it’s a pleasanter environment, partly because I think the uneven surfaces exercise the lower leg and proprioception better than roads.
Interesting topic… All I know is on days I run on the road (and there are always hills) I feel more sore and beat up but on days I run on trails (also with mega hills), I don’t feel so beat up. It just seems intuitive to me that dirt provides more of a cushion on joints that asphalt but it would be interesting to read some studies on this.
I am not disagreeing with (or trying to slam) Alvin, here but I would take with a huge, 200 pound grain of salt anything that Jeff Galloway tells you.
Yes I know he’s helped a lot of new runners complete marathons that they otherwise could not. He deserves tremendous credit for that and his other accomplishments But don’t forget he is also the man who claims that walk-breaks taken during marathons will make even the elites faster. Yes, even the world record holders. This is a view he has been rightfully ridiculed for yet stubbornly clings to. Even to the point of claiming that Ronaldo Da Costa took them during one of his NYC Marathon wins, an assertion that even Da Costa ridiculed. He advocates a way of training that he himself never used to get to the Olympics.
He’s coached 250,000 runners, eh? Individually? Think about that for a second.
Scott Douglas used to have a great “Galloway Whopper Watch” page that tracked some of his ridiculous assertions
Interesting topic… All I know is on days I run on the road (and there are always hills) I feel more sore and beat up but on days I run on trails (also with mega hills), I don’t feel so beat up. It just seems intuitive to me that dirt provides more of a cushion on joints that asphalt but it would be interesting to read some studies on this.
+1. I have a hill near my house that has both a paved road and a dirt road going up and down it. The dirt road is longer, but my joints feel better after running up and down the dirt road.
But it’s a quantitative question: Which causes more injuries. Trail running probably presents more potential for injuries like ankle or knee sprains because of the uneven surface, whereas pavement probably poses more potential for meniscus injuries (which I’ve experienced running on pavement).
I run mostly on trails because I like it more. I do think it is easier on the body but for now that is just an opinion. What I have noticed is running entirely on trails and then trying to race on the road is a recipe for disaster. Since most of my tris have road runs, I make sure I get a fair portion of my mileage on roads.
I’ve been running primarily off road for the past 20 years, except for races, but I may be doing more running on pavement soon. I’ve believed that running off road reduces injuries, but I remember reading something in Runner’s World a couple of years ago about a study that showed that running on pavement strengthens the legs and doesn’t cause more injuries, as long as volume increases are gradual. I haven’t been able to find that article doing a Google search, but I did find this one: http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/.../running-injury.html
What do you think? Will I be OK returning to the pavement if I ease into it? I’ll be running 20 to 30 miles a week.
Mahalo.
n=1, but I’ve run mostly asphalt and concrete my entire running career (4 years x-country jr high/hs, another 3 in college, and 4 years in triathlon training), and the only injury I’ve ever had was a bout of snapping hip my 2nd year in college, and I attribute that to a too fast ramp up and tired shoes.
If running off-road decreases the likelihood of overuse injuries, running off-road probably increases the likelihood of trauma injuries (through twisted ankles, falls…).
One other reason that running off road might decrease the chances of overuse injuries (and I think it does) is that the terrain is broken (even a golf course undulates). This broken terrain changes each stride somewhat - sometimes minute, sometimes large. The result is that you don’t lock in to the same stride length, cadence, landing stride after stride and that by itself could be the major factor in making overuse injuries less likely.
And I’m 100% convinced that various surfaces ARE softer. asphalt softer than concrete and so on…They may not make a difference in injury rate but it’s definitely true. I can feel the difference perceptively during the run as well as subjectively after the run (in terms of impact fatique).
Thanks for the informative responses so far! I enjoy the mental benefits of running off road and will be running on pavement toward my favorite local off road location - the Waterman farm on the edge of the Ohio State University main campus.
However, each can cause issues as the injuries are just different. For people with DJD/joint issues (knees, hips) but no soft tissue stuff like ITB syndrome, plantar fasciitis, etc., then offroad/grass/trails are often better. The opposite can be true for the more typical running injuries though.
This has been exactly my experience… Pavement causes me more pain in the knees and hip joints from the repetitive pounding, but the trails have given me achilles/heel problems from the extra flex/leverage trying to push off on softer/uneven surfaces and steeper uphills. Lately, I’ve been resorting to the track, where the rubberized surface gives a little bit of cush but it’s still firm & flat enough not to pull on my heel too much.
I run on Mountain Bike trails a lot, and they were specifically created to shed water…in other words, a bunch of off camber stuff. Doing 9 min miles on the trail is like a 7 min mile on the road. The pain from pounding is the same.
I find high variation, high frequency and smart pacing to be the most effective in injury prevention. Personaly I prefer to do my long runs on trails, speed work at a track, tempo/recovery run work on roads with easy trails mixed in were possible.
I am not disagreeing with (or trying to slam) Alvin, here but I would take with a huge, 200 pound grain of salt anything that Jeff Galloway tells you.
Yes I know he’s helped a lot of new runners complete marathons that they otherwise could not. He deserves tremendous credit for that and his other accomplishments But don’t forget he is also the man who claims that walk-breaks taken during marathons will make even the elites faster. Yes, even the world record holders. This is a view he has been rightfully ridiculed for yet stubbornly clings to. Even to the point of claiming that Ronaldo Da Costa took them during one of his NYC Marathon wins, an assertion that even Da Costa ridiculed. He advocates a way of training that he himself never used to get to the Olympics.
I don't know if Galloway is right or not in this assertion but I think one can make a strong argument in support of it. If one were to simply walk a few steps at an aid station to make sure one got adequate fluid in (and giving the muscles a short recovery) it certainly might help an elite at the end of the race when most of them are running slower, especially at a hot race.
In triathlon, athletes have had really terrific running efforts (and won the Ironman World Championships - Peter Reid) after spending 4 minutes in the sin bin at T2. Whether that rest helped them to do better overall than if they had not stopped, like the majority of their competitors, cannot be known.
I think it is pretty well established that, generally, who wins amongst a group of “equal” athletes is the one who slows the least in the last quarter.
Few elite athletes are willing to take the chance to try the technique but it sure helps many average athletes.
In my case if I ran 3 days in a row on the roads, I was getting injured, shin splints, calf problems, arch problems, ect. I could run everyday on the trails, and not a niggle. As long as you do not turn your ankle, I really believe running trails is much more forgiving, at least for me it absolutly is. Especially if you run a lot of hills and mountains, you can slip your feet downhill, and that absorbs a ton of the shock of downhill running…
ANd most of the big names of my day, Molina Allen. Zack, ect, that trained in SD, all ran trails primarily. You have to remember that the averare pro triathlete is 30 to 40 LBS. heavier than the average pro runner, so the runners can get away with a lot more hard surfaces because of their body weight…
But some people are just indistructable, and run the roads everyday without a problem. Even if I could do that, I would not just because of the scenery that trails offer, and a more peacful run…ANd I never had to acclimate back to the road for a race, it was always there regardless, in fact many believe I ran faster than I should have been able to in running races. Perhaps it was a taper effect, like wearing board shorts for every swim, then hitting the LZR for races…