Young road running - is it healthy?

Question

Hi - I have just turned 14 years of age and I can currently run on the road up to the distance of 15 miles (which I do every other day in the time of about 89 mins).

1) An adult friend has said that it is not healthy to do TRAINING on the road as it can damage knee joints in the future so I should do training on the treadmill for a more bouncy experience which should be easier on my legs. Is this true? Is it healthy to run 15 miles at 14?

2) I would like to do marathon running when I am older - what is the recommended distance that I should keep at (that

well known athletes did when they were 14)?

3) Another friend has suggested a regime of 1 road run and 2 treadmill runs every week? Is it possible to damage legs on the treadmill and does it really relieve the pressure on the knees?

I would be SO gr8ful if anyone answered this question as seriously as possible (preferably advice from a person with past experiences in running).

Thanx, Matt:)

Answer 1

if you are still young i would advise you to stay away from the roads as much as possible as your joints and muscles are not fully developed and constant impact on such hard surfaces can cause all kinds of problems but if you do insist on running the roads make sure u get trainers fitted to suit you it is useful to get  your gait assessed.

Answer 2

Running on the road is bad for your knees, shock goes all the way through your body. Motorists don't care. Know of someone killed by being hit by a wing mirror of a van and failed to stop. My uncle also was a runner and when he retired from his acive job he has since had 2 knee ops and a hip replacement which he believed had a lot to do with training on hard ground.

Find a good wood as the ground is softer and combine treadmill which has variable inclines.

Well done you for keeping fit and completing 15 miles in 89 minutes and at 14.

Answer 3

Hello,

Well the top athletes, Gabrasselli, Radcliffe etc.. certainly put in a lot of miles each week - 60 to 80 but they have the time to do that - professional runners can. They have specialist advice and have no major problems with injuries.

There are 2 schools of thought with joint problems with running, 1 is that you might get bad joints anyway and the health benefits from running (improved cardio system, less chance of obesity, being out in the open air...) outweigh the possible risk of injury. The other school of thought is that you will wear out your joints. I havent seen any published studies for either school of thought so my thinking is that no one knows for sure what might cause bad joints.

There will be examples of runners who have bad knees and there will be examples of non runners with bad knees - you decide what causes each.

You do need to run on the road to get your muscles used to it, treadmill running isnt the same, a flat surface doesnt twist your feet, there is no wind resistance, no down or up hills really.

I would keep going for your 15 mile runs on the road, but perhaps do only 1 or 2 a week - to keep your stamina up. You can add a treadmill session or a track session in for your other runs. On these other runs you can try speed work (look up Fartlec and try that), or hill work. 90 minutes treadmill? Boring... I can do 30 mins (and still do the odd marathoneach year)

For my long distance runs I sort of figure on doubling my longest training run for a race - 13 miles for a marathon, though I think I would do better doing longer training runs. 15 miles at the moment is good - keep that up, and when you get to 18 (usually the min age for a marathon) up that to maybe 20 miles. You could look at some fun runs or shorter distance races to enter for now to get used to the race atmosphere.

If you are worried about your joints you can try cross training. Keep going for your long run each week, but do cycling and swimming instead - anything where you keep training your system to work hard but is easier on the joints. Rowing is another good one. This is easy to do in a gym where you can move from 1 machine to another after say 15 to 20 mins, or outside (better) you might like to just cycle for an hour?

Many races dont allow young people to enter so that they arnt stressing their bodies too much. make sure you include rest days in your running and dont get injured

Good luck

Answer 4

It isnt good to be training long distances a lot on concrete so alternating training so that it is sometimes on grass and even on sand helps.

I am currently suffering from shin splints which are supposedly caused by running on roads.

however, if you have strong arches it may not affect you.

Answer 5

Running does tear up your knees and is hard on your back and almost every other joint in your body.  Training on a treadmill is better for your knees, but can get extremely boring, unless it is infront of the TV.  If you have running tracks in your area use them.  But they have to be a running tracks; not an oval of asphalt that someone calls a track.  Feel the texture of the track, it should give and be a little bit spongy.  I would also suggest swimming laps every other day.  It is still awesome cardio, but gives your knees a chance to heal!

Answer 6

I don't have experience in running, but I do know this...My mother-in-law has been going to a physical therapist and has been told she should no longer walk on paved surfaces as it will further damage her knees.  She has been told to use a treadmill or, if she wants to be outside, to ride a bike.

Answer 7

Are you sure of the distance and the time?  15 miles in 89 minutes is awfully fast for someone your age (I'm only a year older than you), and i mean the speed isn't that bad but just the speed over such a long distance, and you do it every other day.  You're running under 6 a mile, about what I struggle to do in a 5 miler and I thought that was pretty good.  So, one of the two units of data is incorrect I bet :( sorry.

But yeah, running on the road is killer on like everything.  Try to find a dirt trail, anything is better than road.  I run on the road often, and it hurts like h**l after a few days.