Do I recommend it ? I don't know. The thing is, that running on the road is not natural. Running fast on the road is even more unnatural. The shoes are also more constricted. Sometimes more flexible surely, but less naturally cushioned and their shape is way less adapted to the feet. We don't talk about Altra style foot shape differences. That is the pinnacle of cushioned trail running shoes. Just try up the new Cascadia Elite and the Nike Pegasus road. Both are comfy, but in the Cascadia you like in a performance armchair, like a luxury sports car. A Subaru Imprezza. In the Pegasus, it is more likely a Miata MX3. Both are comfy, but somehow you feel totally different and after many miles that non foot like shoe will feel cumbersome, while the other might be to your use when hiking and gardening.
You know, I don't run much on roads, but often, especially for recovery and cardio reasons, I return. I don't run much, I mean I haven't run a road race for over 4 years I bet and I also often do not touch concrete for 2 to 4 months at a time. That eliminates even the slightest foot and ankle related issues, but also most knee and hip issues. I don't necessarily think that this is due to the hard surface. I run many thousands of meters of ascents and descents fast each week, that is way more impact. I believe that it is due to the stride monotony. 100 % . Each stride is the same length, same speed, coming from the same angle, over and over and over again. In trail running, there is not one single stride the same. Ever. All are attacked distinctly. Not one single footstep is the same length, nor the same direction. There is the ups and downs too. The hiking component and so.
But there is a fitness key in that monotony. Cardio. You can do that on trails, but you gotto have those. However, if you want a big treadmill like experience, you need to have something very very uniform for long long stretches. Like locking on the 125 or 135 or 155 bpm heart rate and pulling a 1 2 3 4 hour run. Or doing precise over and unders. I have a toe path of over 30km, that i like 4 meter wide. You can cycle on it with a road bike. It is perfect. A touch softer than road of course, but honestly, due to the monotony of it I still get sore ankles, calves and little itches on the achilles tendon.
Of course you can adapt to that and I do adapt. I want to adapt. What I will do is simply add in two sessions a week right now. One will be a 15 km jog for recovery @ around 125 to 135 heart rate. The other is a speedier run of 5 km out for warming up, 5km back dynamique and 10 x something. Like 15 to 60 seconds. This will be my weekly road run. I bought a pair of marathon shoes. I feel that it fits me like a glove, but need to break it in and surely I need to break my foot in. Never ran in carbon shoes for 3 years now.
Regularity is key. Transition is key. Taking it slow is key. May goal race is long time away in 14 months, so I just have enough time to adapt very slowly, gradually and keep my feet happy and healthy.
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