What's the deal with pros training in the roads...

We do the bulk of our easy mileage on soft surfaces, and the bulk of our workouts on the roads. We use the track for faster workouts or when the body needs a break from the hard surfaces.

It’s mostly about race specificity. If you're racing a marathon on pavement, your legs need to be conditioned for that impact during training. I used to stick to grass and then felt like my shins were shattering the second I got back on the road.

Camber is the real enemy at pace and/or high volume when marathon training. Got to be conscious of doing o/b runs to balance the assymetric stress'.

Not on the roads, nope, unless you plan on running in traffic while going with the flow of that traffic. That's perhaps the best way to get hit by a car one can find. ALWAYS run against the flow of traffic. ALWAYS.

And then there's that guy who won the Olympic marathon running barefoot on the roads. No supershoes, running shoes or any shoes. Feet and fitness is all yiu need, the rest is a money making scheme for those who cam't hack it as nature intended. Granted, he wore clothes but that probably slowed him down and doesn't count.

So why train on busy roads?

Train where you'd like but the rule is, has been for decades, that you are WILDLY safer running opposite traffic than with it. But hey fella, you do you!

I train on quiet roads. Maybe you live in a city? Are there no parks you can train in?

surfaces vary, in Eugene they had wood chip trails, and too spongy and soft, if you did too much running on that, it stressed the achilles.

then there is uncertain footing, roots, rocks, hard soft.

sand is another thing, dunes etc.

fairly firm turf would be my favorite, the right kind of dirt. pavement would be better than super soft chip trails, which is a completely unnatural surface.

more important are the shoes, which are suitable for the foot strike, speed, and surface.

roads vs nature is just a lousy polar argument.

There's no truth to your assumption.

You can go from your front door.

The muscular stimulus from running on roads is superior to running on dirt or treadmill, but the cardiovascular stimulus is the same. However, this comes at a cost. As a 40 plus athlete, I have found that too much running on roads can result in tendon related injuries which can take a long time to rehab. I run on the treadmill or dirt trails for 70 to 80 percent of my volume and roads for 20 to 30. When I was in my 20s I ran 100 plus miles per week and it did not matter what surface it was on, I never got injured. The older you get, the smarter you have to be with your training.

Well good luck to you but you're an idiot if you're running with traffic and not against. Seriously, why on earth would you question this plain fact? Are you that fvcking stupid or just thirsty to post contrarian bullsh1t?

Actually, you are likely a future darwin award winner too.

Pros can change there shoes every month you can get away with a lot more on a trail.

Most of the East Africans spent years running trails they only switch to roads later

Running off road does not mean you won't get injured but its a lot nicer. I've moved are though and even though there are parks they are really bumpy. Maybe its changed now but we had a really dry summer. Then there are loads of man made paths around lakes but none are gravel. Tow paths on canals used to be great but now most have been paved so cyclists on mountain bikes!

I used to use road shoes for most trails but nowadays they have got rid of most of the rubber outsole to save weight. Plus they are too soft A lot of BS about the new foams there is loads of cut ins lack of outsole and ;racing' trash uppers. The trouble with mild trail shoes is if the ground is hard you can really feel bumps. Unless its a muddy xc road shoes used to be great for most trails and parks but they get softer ever time they make a new model.

Those shoetubers really piss me off. Every shoe is raced on apart from some off model thats not even available. When I was in my 20's I could run in my leather work shoes I could wear anything. Now they're mostly unstable and they're happt to get 500km. My last Adidas glide shoes similar to Boston I had for over 5 years. They eventually fell apar but the rubber on the outsole is barely worn/ As for not getting injured look at Jake and Josh despite round the clock physio

This, y'all!

The pro's are likely running on a variety of surfaces, however, the workouts that are put into the runnersphere are typically quality workouts that showcase their bad-ass-ness and thus are done on fast surfaces like road or track...

Somehow this makes me think of some of the old Flo(reani)track videos like Diego Estrada, David McNeil + more running mile reps on dirt. Diego is highly underrated--I wonder how his career may have unfolded with more marketability...

Absolute best surface is level grass that is frozen. Midwestern winter runs on soccer fields or golf courses.

How much could a New York woodchuck chip if a New York woodchuck could chip wood?

Thanks for sharing on this. I'm surprised the bulk of the workouts are on the roads and the track.

I just think about the arguments made for super shoes when it comes to recovery time from workouts. Part of the argument is the shoes allow for faster recovery and less damage to the body. Using that logic I'm surprised more workouts are not done on softer surfaces as that should also allow for faster recovery and less damage to the body. I can understand why some workouts need to be on the roads and track, but I would hope that it would really be a very small percentage of all runs if you really want to avoid injury over the long run.

What part of "I train on quiet roads" do you not understand?