What I’d like to know is - from a perfromance perspective -
Would I be better of doing my indoor stationary running drills on:
A) wooden boards (thick, and elevated a few inches off the concrete floor underneath)
B) Find the nearest grass patch
C) Concrete floor (as my indoor gym at the back of my ground floor flat - is concrete.
Indoor floors are wood with thick carpet. Wood is a little better than concrete - but with thick carpet + rug over the top - I’m not so sure.
Also: If you had a choice between doing your block starts & accells on an indoor wooden track or an outdoor track - which of those training surfaces would you choose?
A) Wooden boards
B) outdoor tracks.
I’m asking about the longer term effects on running performance elsewhere - from the surfaces that you do any of your training on.
And somebody else asked (cant find in the search menu) ARE INDOOR WOODEN RUNNING TRACKS NOT AS EFFECTIVE AT TRAINING SPEED THAN OUTDOOR SYNTHETIC TRACKS?
Goose232,
I used to love running on wooden tracks as a kid. They are fast but don’t fall as you will get nasty splinters.
I ran at the Melrose Games and had an inside lane next to the long jump pit, was ready to run fast and boom… I slid and burned and crashed and it was not good. Turns out… I had the wrong spikes for wood. I looked to Charlie at the time but he was still realing from the political chaos which he never wanted more of… I wanted him there but he would never go with me to any meets. Any way thats anohter story isnt it.
From a performance perspective the game is the big picture over time. FAst is good. YOu will feel fast on harder tracks and surfaces for training but as a general rule ALWAYS pick surfaces that are easier on the body unless for a given day you need speed. For you above question I would pick wood on concrete and or grass patch. YOu must be somewhere warm? Wood absorbs a lot and cushions too. Not sure the concrete under makes too much difference but maybe someone else can comment on this. I did the running on the spot in the DVD’s in my basement and its a thin layer of concrete with dirt under neath but always used a matt to run on top of that.
We used to save the hard surfaces for speed work. And if there was an issue with tight calves or hamstrings or coming off an injury we were much more proactive and careful. Charlie never took chances. The idea was why must you? The idea behind having more info is you can be more creative and work around environmental challanges.
As for block starts and accels? Well if you can run outside and the weather is reasonable then stay outside. Indoor tracks are great if you have no other options. I know some athletes especially football types that feel pain is good and more is better and cold is a challange etc… but I was taught right or wrong that muscle like and enjoy warm and dry if possible.
As for you final question about indoor wooden tracks vs outdoor synthetic tracks? Umm, I doubt it. You be the judge and ask around and try and find out what the Usains Bolts of
the world are doing… Actually, on that note I remember Charlie discussing that speed work was done on the grass with a few of the groups previously mentioned in Jamaica. When I was training we used to do some speed , some times at the park near my house, with the proviso that I was completely relaxed , loose and all other conditions were ideal. ( hot , summer days when its dry and the sun is out and conditions are ideal). Likely for most speed on grass is not going to executed the way you need it to be for the simple reason that the surface is not very even or flat and you are introducing too many variables to overcome for the average athlete and general coach who’s eye must be capable of picking up effects of surface change.
I hope this answers your question.
[QUOTE=Angela Coon;241511]Goose232,
For you above question I would pick wood on concrete and or grass patch. YOu must be somewhere warm? Wood absorbs a lot and cushions too. Not sure the concrete under makes too much difference but maybe someone else can comment on this. I did the running on the spot in the DVD’s in my basement and its a thin layer of concrete with dirt under neath but always used a matt to run on top of that.
We used to save the hard surfaces for speed work. And if there was an issue with tight calves or hamstrings or coming off an injury we were much more proactive and careful. [QUOTE]
Thankyou for answering.
Yeah, I was thinking to add some wooden boards to the gym room. Concrete is just a little too hard for me to do stationary running on. Still rehabing from foot injury - from 2.5 years ago. I mean, it’s 98% cured, just dont want to take chances. I can run without probs - but stationary running - even skipping - on concrete - and I feel it the next day - in the foot.
So I'm gonna get some wooden boards - just enough for the light stationary plyometric type exercise.
For stationary plyos for myself(jump rope skipping) i wear runners while skipping on play mats. The play mats are a type of dense foam about 3’ length x 3’ length x 0.5" thick and they come in 4 packs. If the floor system is concrete i’ll double them up, and if it’s wood floor joists with plywood on top i’ll use just one layer(runners at all times). They’re the square type that could link together on any edge, you’ll often see them in a few boxing gyms. I’ve even thought of buying enough to cover a lane on an asphalt track to provide some relief from the hardness(maybe duct tape each joint and duct tape each side where it makes contact with the concrete-to prevent from moving with each stride).
Not the ones I had…LOL.
Actually. I was more heartbreaking than lots of laughs.
Yes, I can laugh now but seriously… I was pissed.
And I do think shorter but you need to find a place that can hook you up with spikes for wood surfaces. Getting spikes in Canada when I was running was brutally difficult.
With google and online stores you will have more success I am sure.
I bought a wax bath for my foot issues post having my son… Wax, or paraffin has deep heat qualities combined with moisture which is supposed to help break up scar tissue.
If you have foot issues trouble shoot with 1. new shoes, / replacement of shoes frequently as defined my tread wear ( Mike Forgraves told me that high volume running needs shoes with tread and one way to know if and when you need to replace shoes is if the tread is worn or wearing.). 2. keeping feet strong and loose/ their are lots of exercises you can do to strengthen your feet/ towel grabs and foot rotations/ we take our feet for granted but they need love too )3. reducing wear and tear. Dress shoes are a killer for athletes feet. / staying off your feet and or making sure there is not an over training element to your training.
These are just some ideas to think about.
