What a difference road surface makes!

[txtenderfoot]

I live in a great running/cycling neighborhood until you try to run barefooted. All the roads are chip-seal. And I wasn't kidding about the tender foot part in my screen name! Yesterday I went and ran in a park on a concrete trail around a lake. Wow, that felt great! The surface was pretty smooth and the trail was very undulating with lots of camber changes. Pretty perfect for training I would say! Just had to watch out for the occasional coyote poop (the plum seeds are a give-away that it isn't Fido). Now my biggest challenge is not ramping mileage up too fast .

 

[barefoot.zumba.runner]

haha, totally. I have a combo

haha, totally. I have a combo of chipseal and concrete/sidewalks on a lot of my routes...helps break up the "ow, son of a!" and blissfull moments. Good balance, doesn't take long to work up tolerance to the chip seal though

 

[saypay45]

Chipseal serves it's

Chipseal serves it's purpose. You won't ever build up any kind of serious plantar skin running only silky smooth surfaces. Rough surfaces also build better form.

I try to mix in a few miles of chipseal every week to keep my feet in shape. Although it's getting a lot harder now that the weather is colder. Chipseal on a cold day! OUCH!

 

[perryrowland]

I ran a half marathon a few

I ran a half marathon a few weeks ago. Got down to the last mile and had just gotten finished telling myself how comfortable I felt with my bare feet...then, damn, the last half mile was on concrete pavement that had exposed aggregate as a finished surface. The rocks were crushed rather than round and really slowed me down. My goal this winter is to train on more harsh surfaces.

I agree with Zumba that it is nice to do a run on varying types of pavements. It does keep you alert!

Good luck with all your barefoot training.

 

[barefoottyler]

 My opinions have already

My opinions have already been stated. It is good to run on a more painful surface because it keeps you light on your feet and corrects form errors.



With that being said, after a certain amount of miles(depending on how used to it your feet are) everything starts to sting.

 

[fetish4running]

I've gotten so I really don't

I've gotten so I really don't mind chip-seal. I AM having a hard time on our newly chip-sealed road, however. The road commission has done something different this year and it's absolute torture to my feet. It usually doesn't take long for the road to sort of smooth down, but this time they put a sealant over the gravel stuff and it's preserving its texture and sharpness. I just can't run on it! The most I can do is .17 of a mile. The road is unavoidable so I'm forced to carry something so I have protection for a stupid .5 stretch. It really irritates me.

 

[saypay45]

fetish, you now have what

fetish, you now have what I affectionately call "The Death Trail" (a combo blacktop and gravel road). I hate when they do that to roads. It will wear down over time, but for now it is very sharp. Especially in the colder weather I can only do a few miles on that stuff.

Be careful because it will actually puncture your feet! I did an 8 miler on the stuff last week and I have the wounds to prove it.

 

[fetish4running]

I can't believe you can

I can't believe you can actually do 2 miles on that! I'm hoping maybe the snow plows will dull the sharpness this winter. But for now, I curse it on every run!

 

[Tender Toes Mark]

Too true that not all chip n

Too true that not all chip n seal is the same. I have a 1 mile stretch of really rough chip n seal that I have to run on to get to the nice sidewalks. Whenever I run it, I imagine that when it was made the street department hired some poor college summer employee to arrange every little pebble individually with the pointy side up.



It's good for making the soles tougher, though!

 

[saypay45]

fetish4running wrote:I can't

I can't believe you can actually do 2 miles on that! I'm hoping maybe the snow plows will dull the sharpness this winter. But for now, I curse it on every run!

Well just remember that the roads have been that way since I moved to Maple Grove. So I've had LOOOOTS of practice on that crap. It gets easier to run on as the temps get higher. I stay off of it completely when temps dip below 30. It's not worth the pain at that point.

 

[fetish4running]

That's certainly true about

That's certainly true about the temps. It's downright painful when it's cold. I have high hopes for summer time!