Everyday is a 2 a day wrote:Also if you were running 80-110 a week you would know that the asphalt feels WAY better than the sidewalk.
I'll preface this by saying I have very few training weeks in the 80+ range over my now 33 years of consistent running. I had many years with 50-60 mpw, but these days I'm pretty consistently at about only half of that. If anyone thinks that makes my response invalid so be it.
To think that running on asphalt vs running on concrete is going to make a major difference in how your legs or feet feel doesn't seem plausible to me. Mentally maybe, but I find it hard to believe that the difference in hardness of these surfaces makes much of a measurable physical difference. If we were talking about running on sand vs concrete, maybe. Even then, I can't help but believing that one's running form plays a much bigger role in the forces transmitted from whatever surface you're running on than the material the surface is comprised of.
Concrete is hard. Asphalt is hard. Crushed rock is hard. Hard packed dirt is hard. In all these cases your running shoes are far softer than any surface. And no matter what, running with good form means your legs absorb less harsh shock then running with lousy form.
Are there any studies out there about how much actual force is transmitted to a runner's legs on one surface vs another? If there was any kind of data showing a meaningful difference that would likely change my position.