Who runs all of there miles on cement sidewalks?

Concrete.

You use a fine powder called cement mixed with aggregate and water that hardens into a material that is very hard and is called "concrete."

And it would be "...their miles...," not "there."

well it's late, but thanks for the science and English lessons. Now answer my questions?

Are any of you running most or all your miles on cement due to convenience or no other options around?

***About 90% of my running is on trails. It has been that way for years.

How many of you would run at all if all there was was cement to run on?

***I would drive to the trails. I would not live where there is only concrete or asphalt. I am old enough to not be concerned with any collegiate restraints (means I am old and don't have a coach to worry about).

Is it possible to put in high mileage solely on cement and how much worse do you all feel the impact forces are compared to other surfaces?

***I did a few years of concrete/asphalt running. I had to be careful with shoes, replace them earlier than on trails, get good quality shoes.

Can your body adapt to 50+ miles solely on cement?

***Yes. Most roadies run primarily on hard surfaces.

Everyone I see running on cement seems to be going so slow and with the pounding the workout just seems counterproductive. I curious from you experienced runners your feeling on this?

I suppose they get used to it, accept it as where they have to run. Since most races are track or roads, you run where your races will be.

How's that?

Have fun out there.

I recall reading somewhere that running on concrete produces 2-3 times the impact than asphalt. If you got hit over the head w/ a chunk of each I doubt you'd know/care, but apparently the difference in micro trauma of running is significant. Moral of the story: run in the road, not on the sidewalk.

Difficult when there are lots of cars in it! E.g. a town or city, main roads.

I opt for the sidewalk over asphalt road because the road is normally crowned and thats much worse than the increased impact.

Cement is tough on the body. Still, some people are able to run on it without many problems. I grew up running in a city and a certain amount of cement running is unavoidable, but you should be able to find parks that can reduce the amount of cement you run on.

A tar road is easier on the body than cement; you should even find ways to get on those roads if possible.

Another respite from the cement would be a day or two on a treadmill. A bit boring, but definitely would spare the body.

only just breaking down finally. but my problem is lower back.

I run 70 miles a week. about 60 of that is on pavement (less 10 for the miles i do on the track).

I run on pavement b/c there are few trails around, the few that are around are windy and narrow, so its impossible to get a good pace going. I try to stay on the grassy part between the sidewalk and street, but i'm mostly on the street.

I don't really have a problem with it. I think it depends on the person, I grew up doing all pavement, got on some trails in college (3x per week) but have been on streets most of my life.

And I'd like to know who wouldn't run if there weren't any trails around.. Its not ideal, but suck it up!!

We have a similar situation: no trails around where I live. We bike or drive about six miles to a park every day and only run from the house when there is no time. I probably wouldn't run if always forced to breath car exhaust while smashing my legs on pavement.

well i was going to make my own thread on this sort of subject, but this shall work...

does anyone have a problem with running on roads in flats? ever since i switched to my puma h streets ive found that i dont trust hard surfaces. this was made worse only when i switched to forefoot running. so is this normal? cuz i feel like im pounding away when i run on concrete in my pumas. but running on the grass feels so much better/faster. my body just doesnt trust the concrete.

bulldog35 wrote:

Everyone I see running on cement seems to be going so slow and with the pounding the workout just seems counterproductive. I curious from you experienced runners your feeling on this?

I find this really odd. I used to run almost exclusively (95%+) on grass and som gravel roads and would occasionally decide to do a run in some city. When I moved from the soft grass to the pavement I FLEW. The same effort would always produce much faster running. I think the people you see running slow on pavement are just slow people who would be going very slow no matter where they run.

One more data point:

I run almost 100 percent of my mileage (currently 90+ per week) on pavement -- roads or sidewalks. I train in what could best be called "heavy flats" -- 9.0 oz Nike Triax TC(+). I find that training on pavement just forces you to run more smoothly, just as training in flats does.

Over the summer, i'll commonly run 90 mile weeks entirely on the road/sidewalk as there are no trails near where i live either. While it's definately not as fun or interesting as running on trails, i've always found that it gets the job done. Actually, until this year, i did nearly all of my running on pavement. I'd say the body can definately adapt to running on pavement. I think getting used to running on pavement has in fact helped me to become more resistant to injury also. As for people going slow on sidewalks, the vast majority of people just running for general fitness are quite slow, or are building their base, and don't need to go fast to reap the benefits of their training. Hope this is helpful.

bulldog35 wrote:

Are any of you running most or all your miles on cement due to convenience or no other options around?

Is it possible to put in high mileage solely on cement and how much worse do you all feel the impact forces are compared to other surfaces?

Can your body adapt to 50+ miles solely on cement?

Mr Ed Whitlock runs 2-3 hours a day around 1/3 mile loop in a cemetary on a paved road.

And he's over 70 years old. So I guess it is possible.

Mr. Ed Whitlock ain't no ordinary physical specimen, neither; most of his contemporaries are permanent residents of said cemetary.

I swim in a ceeement pond with Ellie Mae everyday!

Don't get me wrong, I have been doing 90% of my training on wood chips and Trails and when I get on the pavement I feel as though I am flying as well, but I limit this running cause like another poster says my body still is trying to adapt and trust the cement and pavement more.

So ofcourse Cement or Pavement is a faster surface but besides the people I see probably just being slow I am sure others that are faster understand the impact forces on there body and slow down or run with a faster cadence.

I wonder about how much faster the road or cement is to grass and trails and if anybody has done a study on this as well as energy expenditure between differn't surfaces as well as muscular development?

I appreciate the posts so far on this topic!

I run all my miles over the summer on sidewalks. Have run up to 110 miles all on sidewalk and roads and have had no problems. It is possible you just need to let your body adapt to it.