[nhellman]

It is not an entirely painfree experience, though. In some cases it is not a completely unwarranted question.

For example, the snow and ice melted here yesterday, exposing gravel on asphalt which is borderline painful to run on directly. Also, e.g. very cold winter days or just nasty gravel roads may inflict varying degrees of pain.

Otherwise, it can also be slightly painful for the soles during later parts of long runs, especially when inexperienced or when running for the first time in months.