Pounding on Pavement

Running season, many running questions and comments.

One common comment that I heard is that the runner should not run too much on the pavement so that he / she can have less leg injuries such as knee pain or shin splint due to the pounding on the pavement.

This is quite true. Remember your physics lessons? Newton's 3rd law (bet you might have prayed for durians to drop on Newton rather than apples when you were studying physics) states that for every force, there is an equal and opposite reaction force. Thus, for every stride you take on the pavement, there is a reaction force back to your foot. So imagine the impact on your leg.

So how do you reduce the impact? There are a few ways -

(1) Run on treadmill
(2) Run on grass
(3) Run on sand

Although running on treadmill can be boring for some runners, it offers quite a lot of benefits for training. For example, you can monitor your pace closely with the speed control or increase intensity by increasing the gradient. You can also practice 2 training methods on the treadmill - LSD (long slow distance) and interval training.

In LSD training, the exercise continues as long as you are able to maintain your heart rate within the prescribed zone and energy is available. LSD is performed at an intensity less than that normally used so that the duration of the workout can be longer. The goals of LSD training include development of endurance in supporting musculature, and fat utilization within corresponding glycogen (carbo) sparing. Typical training sessions last between 30 minutes and 2 hours. To prevent overtraining, LSD should not take place more than twice a week. LSD is suitable for beginners, athletes recovering from injury and special population such as the elderly. LSD is also suitable for long distance runners or swimmers.

I have talked about interval training or sprint training in an earlier blog. Interval training can be quite tough and I would recommend that you build up a certain level of fitness before you try this form of training, either on the treadmill or outdoors. Interval training is suitable not only for runners, but also other sports such as football, rugby, tennis, etc.

If you still find running on treadmill boring, you can try to run on grass or sand or hilly places. This is a form of training called the Fartlek training. If I did not remember wrongly, it is invented by the Swedish? Swiss? Can't recall, anyway not important for you, right?

Unfortunately, Singapore do not have much lush greens for us to run on grass. Probably you can try Bishan Park or find any football fields and run around it. MacRitchie's ground is actually rather hard. Another place to do Fartlek training in Singapore may be Sentosa Island where you can run on sand or hills. East coast may also be a place for you to run on sand. The sand would absorb much of your impact when you run, thus, you would need more leg power (quadriceps / hamstring / calves) to run.

Don't just run and run, remember to rest and recover properly too.