Dirt vs Asphalt vs Concrete

Several weeks ago, I was stressed because, for the most part, all of my running has been on the concrete (sidewalk). Most of my workouts are in our neighborhood and because Bella runs right next to me on my left side, we are too "wide" to run in the street (on the asphalt) and be out of the way of traffic and safe. This is obviously not the case when we go to the canals, and there, I have my choice, for the most part, of gravel, concrete and asphalt.

Most basic information I've run across seems to indicate that (besides snow as pictured above which thank goodness I should never ever have to deal with), concrete is the "worst" surface to run on. "Worst" meaning most likely to cause injury or hardest on your joints. Hence, my recent stressing about the issue of where to run.

Here's is a Runner's World article comparing the pro/cons of running surfaces as well as ranking them in relation to injury prevention.

In my consideration of whether or not I needed to find a track or trail to run on instead of the convienent sidewalk, I mentioned my dilemma to Ashley (remember she's run two half marathons). When she was training, she participated in a local club called the First Marathon Running Program. On one of her runs, the running "instructors" told her not to run on the dirt because when the marathon rolled around, she wouldn't be well-trained to run on the asphalt of the race course. It would seem harder because her joints were use to running on the softer gravel.

I've also read that running next to the curb (on asphalt) on most roads is not recommended because most roads are sloped toward the curb and when you run next tot he curb facing traffic, your right leg is always running on a higher surface than your left leg. If this becomes a habit, it can cause enough biomechanical alteration in your normal running gait that injury is more likely to occur. The research stated that, in general, if you can't run on a trail, most runners are better off on concrete because they are normally pretty level.

I feel like, at this point, since I haven't been struggling with many "aches and pains" that would indicate that my body is not doing well with the concrete running, hopefully running on concrete will mean that I am OVER prepared for the asphalt of the PF Chang's course and that I can keep running with Bella!