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For Runners, Soft Ground Can Be Hard on the Body (Read 1068 times)


Petco Run/Walk/Wag 5k

    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/health/nutrition/19best.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

     

    Interesting and points out one of the reasons that with my knees uneven soft ground is worse than hard asphalt and concrete. There being no studies, blind or otherwise we are back to our experiments of one!

    bob e v
    2014 goals: keep on running! Is there anything more than that?

    Complete the last 3 races in the Austin Distance Challenge, Rogue 30k, 3M Half, Austin Full

    Break the 1000 mi barrier!

    History: blessed heart attack 3/15/2008; c25k july 2008 first 5k 10/26/2008 on 62nd birthday.

      What looks painful is the picture that accompanies the article.

       

      Like he(?) is about to jam the full force of his body on the heel.

       

      OUCH!

      Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
      We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
      Trent


      Good Bad & The Monkey

        this is brilliant: “Most road races are on hard roadways”.

         

        I wonder where most trail races are.  Maybe on trails.

        AmoresPerros


        Options,Account, Forums

          this is brilliant: “Most road races are on hard roadways”.

           

          I wonder where most trail races are.  Maybe on trails.

           

          And what's this ultra crap we've been running on top of, that's been damaging our brains?

          It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

            well again another article basically w/o scientific evidence or research & as you say we are all an experiment of one.  this person was coming off a knee injury, ran on a softer surface & twisted his foot & was reinjured.  therefore running on softer surfaces increases the risk of injury to a runner.  ha, ha.   One thing I do somewhat agree with in the article is the statement that "running on softer surfaces is a different activity".  although it is still running, you do work your foot, glutes, & knees differently.  I firmly believe (in my own experiment of one) that running on softer surfaces is less hard on my body (especially the knees) & that the trailrunning I do helps strengthen the muscles used for running, especially the foot muscles.   asphalt is hard & ungiving & can also be uneven & I am just as prone to twist something.  Many of our roads around here are very cambered for rain runoff & sometimes my feet, ankles, achilles, knees (etc) hurt more after running on asphalt/pavement  than when I do the same time/mileage on a trail run.  whenever I have any type of "minor" injury or soreness I try to hit the trails abit more, but thats just me.

              This is an article by a runner who gets hurt on soft surfaces. He is alerting us that there have been no studies to show that soft surfaces are safer. Thank you. 

               

              I am going with Bruce Denton. He was a graduate student in Science and an elite miler. 

              "If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus

              MrH


                My worst running injury was when I twisted my ankle stepping off a curb, therefore running on sidewalks is very dangerous.

                 

                This experiment of one 'knows' a ten mile run on a softer surface feels much more comfortable than ten miles on cement.

                The process is the goal.

                Men heap together the mistakes of their lives, and create a monster they call Destiny.

                  I am going with Bruce Denton. He was a graduate student in Science and an elite miler. 

                   

                  And fictional.  Good enough for me.

                  Runners run

                    All I can say is running trails and jumping over fallen trees and stuff makes me aware of muscles I did not know existed.   

                      All I can say is running trails and jumping over fallen trees and stuff makes me aware of muscles I did not know existed.   

                       Frank Shorter existed, ipso facto, Bruce Denton existed.  

                      "If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus

                        http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/health/nutrition/19best.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

                         

                        Interesting and points out one of the reasons that with my knees uneven soft ground is worse than hard asphalt and concrete. There being no studies, blind or otherwise we are back to our experiments of one!

                         As true as it is, I do not like to "abuse" the phrase; "we are all experiments of one."  True, but there are certain "rule of thumb" that can be applied to almost everyone.  I guess another one would be; "what doesn't break you will make you stronger."  So with that in mind (the latter phrase), when you think about the reason why barefoot running is good for you, particularly barefoot running on grassy area, is because of that unevenness, you'll be working on all those small muscles in your feet and ankle in particular that otherwise wouldn't be used and that would make your ankles and feet strong.  In other words, running on soft ground or uneven surface in itself IS a strengthen workout.

                         

                        Adidas came up with their Tortion technology back in the mid-1980s.  The whole idea was to "separate" the front half of the shoe and the back half of the shoe.  Of course, you wouldn't have to do that sort of thing in the first place if the shoe is flexible but anyways...  The whole idea was that, if you land over an uneven area, the front part of the shoe and the back part of the shoe would react (twist) separately, avoiding the chance of getting your ankle twisted.  That Reebok's new shoes with those "pods" on the bottom is supposed to do the same--though I thought that commercial was a bit rediculous; when a runner is running over a rugged trail and sees a piece of wood, usually he/she would try to avoid landing on it instead of landing right ON it to see how flexible the shoe is...  So, on the other side of the coin, if you're wearing one of those typical "clunker", heavy bulky inflexible shoes over soft and uneven ground, the chance of getting hurt IS higher.  I'm a bit surprised with this New York Times' article--they are 30 years behind!???

                         

                        Whenever I do the running class, mostly for beginners, and we'd do some drills or strides, I usually pick a parking lot instead of grassy park.  And most of other partner coaches look at me like "Are you kidding?"  Parking lot?  Asphalt surface to run fast?  But there IS higher chance of getting hurt doing strides in those inflexible shoes right from the get-go.  Of course, that IS why you should probably try to ease into it because it'll strengthen your legs.  It's rather a fine line but you've got to understand the logic (even NYT is catching up!).

                        jpdeaux


                          I'm pretty sure Ms. Kolata's a woman. Not sure if that's her in the accompanying photo though.

                          L Train


                            If I'm on trails I'm more likely to hit the ground with my face.  When this happens, it feels pretty hard. 

                             


                            Feeling the growl again

                              Many of the hard surfaces we run on tend to be flat.  Most soft surfaces aren't.  IMHO this is where the issue of joint injury danger comes in, not in whether it is hard or soft.  On flat surfaces the range of motion is constant and predictable.  On soft surface there is a lot of extra twisting and need for balance control, hence more chance that something will go wrong and you can get injured.  People who are USED to running on uneven surfaces lessen this danger because both their mind (balance, planning foot placement) and their body (muscle/connective tissue conditioning) are prepared for it.  Frankly I've gotten injured more often from running on dark sidewalks and encountering unevenness than on trails.

                               

                              Non-joint issues are a whole other issue.  Doing a lot of hard surface running can lead to some of those where staying on softer surfaces may help.

                               

                              I did a fair amount of fast running last weekend on a grass surface for the first time in a long while....years ago when I ran XC I would not have even noticed the slight unevenness but I sure did this time. 

                               

                              Of course if could have been the beer I was chugging each lap too...

                              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                               

                              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                               


                              Why is it sideways?

                                This is a very poor article, but I guess the NYTimes is getting a lot of page-views from it. At least the crappy analysis is about running and not about politics.

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