Have a (possibly) silly question. Does your run training benefit at all from hiking? I am talking fairly strenuous hiking - like climbing 15-20% grade inclines for several miles with a backpack on? Wife is an avid hiker and this being my offseason, I am being asked to hike more than I usually agree to.
I did a couple of hikes with her and her group last year, and the pace they keep does get pretty good, and the HR can be in Z3 for extended periods of time depending on the terrain. So in theory, aerobically there should be some benefit. But the slowness of the pace compared to running makes me a little skeptical. However, they do cover 10-15 miles per session, so there is that.
Thoughts? Searching the forums does not seem to bring back a ton of relevant stuff…
Sure. Its aerobic and you are on your feet (sometimes with a pack). If cycling, cross country skiing, etc can help your running, not sure I see a reason why hiking wouldn’t have a similar positive effect.
Long runs and and longer hikes might even have similar benefits.
Yes it does. Is it going to help your 400 meter time? Not so much, but yes it will. I do Ultra’s and a lot of training where I am reduced to walking on training runs with 15%+ climbs. Builds my strength. Lot easier to run hills. Yes with hiking it is using different muscle than running but there is a benifit…plus great for building base
Anything that makes you drop a few pounds is probably good. Day hiking is one thing but to really get fit, try doing a through hike that takes at least a week.
Twice I’ve tried to through-hike the Long Trail in Vermont. Each time I’ve had an ambitious schedule (read: not enough vacation time) that had me going about as hard as I could all day long. It didn’t help that the northern half of Vermont is pretty much all climbing or descending. After about 3 days of misery and exhaustion, wondering why I was there, I suddenly found myself feeling much better and stronger. By the 6th day each time I felt like I was invincible, just flying up mountains, never getting tired. Each time, I managed to drop about 10 pounds and was whole lot stronger at my running when I got back.
I actually think there is very little overlap from hiking to running, unless you’re either a very slow runner or a ultralight / fast paced hiker meaning that you hike almost as fast as jogging speed (usually with an ultralight pack.)
Most hiking is long enough with a heavy enough pack and enough climbing that you’re not in z3+ for extended periods of time. The time on your feet really fatigues your legs, but I don’t think the specificity overlaps with fast running much. (With hiking, you’re often 16-20 min/mile pace with a 45+ pack - no training of the hip flexors, or neuromuscular, and rarely are you going like 30+ minutes at z3 pace, especially if you’re on a 10+ mile hike where you’ll often be in z1 more often than not despite the leg fatigue.)
I did the Inca trail for a week with a 45 lbs pack and was pretty shocked to find I’d lost some running and biking speed when I went right back to the triathlon training. At first I racked it up to fatigue from the hike (it was hard with a 45 lbs pack - 5-7 hrs per day with lots of elevation!) but it became pretty clear that I wasn’t overfatigued, and just didn’t have the specificity of training.
I think running helps with hiking mainly if you’re doing a hard stretch where you have to push into z3+ for awhile. But in general, since most of the hiking was z2 or below, and very slow with a 45lbs pack, I found that I wasn’t a hiking stud at all, and was duly punished with the typical fatigue and “wow I don’t think I’m gonna make it today” thoughts after slogging through hours with that pack!
I think there is definitely benefit. Hiking can help build strength in some slightly different muscles. I find that if I really push an ascent, my HR can get very high for sustained time. I mix in hiking all summer, amid a lot of running & biking. Also, I hike solo which allows me to push myself pretty hard.
I think the benefit would be less if you just focused on hiking for a period of time without running on days surrounding it. But within a running program, it is good cross training. It also helps balance, agility, coordination, etc, and obviously helps me in trail races. I recommend wearing an HR Monitor during a hike sometime and seeing what happens. Another observation: sounds like it could be a good way to spend time with your wife and her friends.
Most of my long runs these days includes a lot of hiking. It’s what the area I live in (Hong Kong) lends itself to - you can run on flat pavement or you can run/hike through the mountains. So we go into the mountains. I do think that the uphill hiking has a lot of benefit. Thing is, though, when we can run we run, and it doesn’t sound like your wife is up to that.
I think it depends on your goals…it will make you stronger especially if you decide to throw in some running after and/or before with said pack ala like ultra training. If you can keep some speedy tempo runs and such the rest of the time, it will overall help your “base” that you can build off. This is especially true if you’re planning on a run that has some hills.
Yes it does. Is it going to help your 400 meter time? Not so much, but yes it will. I do Ultra’s and a lot of training where I am reduced to walking on training runs with 15%+ climbs. Builds my strength. Lot easier to run hills. Yes with hiking it is using different muscle than running but there is a benifit…plus great for building base
I have my first ultra this summer. It will be 6 weeks after a half IM (not my first). Lots of climbing on the ultra, but the tri is flat. Anything special I should know about working the training in together? On the previous halfs, my run fell apart, so I figured that I would focus on run training this spring.
May seem like a snarky response, but since so many people spend so much time walking in marathons/ironman, I am surprised people do not incorporate hiking more into training. Seriously, I bet half of any marathon field walks 25% of the race. I have no stats to back that up, but since over half of any marathon field runs slower than 10 minutes per mile (kind of the cut off between running and fast walking), it would seem that any time spent doing “speed work” would be better spent walking. Certainly the impact from walking and the need to support your body on the ground through the stride would make walking more mechanically similar to running that other “cross training” activities like biking, erging or swimming.
I have my first ultra this summer. It will be 6 weeks after a half IM (not my first). Lots of climbing on the ultra, but the tri is flat. Anything special I should know about working the training in together? On the previous halfs, my run fell apart, so I figured that I would focus on run training this spring.
I do both Ironmans and trail races/ultras. The way I train for both during triathlon season is by doing my long runs on the mountain trails - even if the ironman I’ll be doing will be flat. I feel that those runs build good strength for ironman but are easier for my legs and keep me prepared for my trail races and ultras at the same time. I also usually do at least one of my weekday runs on the trails during triathlon season.
Of course duration, speed, pack vs no pack, day hike vs multi-day will all influence how much it benefits you running. But it’s certainly unlikely to have any negative impact.
I recently had 2 months off running before spending 5 weeks camping out in Canadian Rockies. I was pretty much hiking every day except for Saturdays when I ran a trail race. I did no other running and returned home far more run-fit than when I started my holiday.
Yes it does. Is it going to help your 400 meter time? Not so much, but yes it will. I do Ultra’s and a lot of training where I am reduced to walking on training runs with 15%+ climbs. Builds my strength. Lot easier to run hills. Yes with hiking it is using different muscle than running but there is a benifit…plus great for building base
I have my first ultra this summer. It will be 6 weeks after a half IM (not my first). Lots of climbing on the ultra, but the tri is flat. Anything special I should know about working the training in together? On the previous halfs, my run fell apart, so I figured that I would focus on run training this spring.
Some general recommendations:
Strengthen your hips a lot. Helps avoid roots and tripping that can happen on trails, especially when you get tired in the second half of a long trail race. I do this with lifting heavy weights, and then doing “marching” or “high knees” with ankle weights. Even without weights, doing 100 high-knees at the end of a workout is great (and tougher than you’d imagine).
Speedwork and focus on footspeed can help a lot. Some hard track sessions help me transition back from the slower paces of trails and ultras to keep speed and turnover on flat roads.
I also like tempo runs for the same reason. I do best when I do an easy run as a first workout and then a tempo run as the second in a double. One day like this every week if I am building towards a running race.
Agility drills: I throw these into my easy runs. Sometimes I run backwards, sideways, cross-over feet, skip, etc. I’ll also intentionally shorten my stride for some stretches to focus on turnover. Helps balance and agility on the trails.
The stair climbing machine: if you have one of these, with actual stairs like a mini-escalator, at your gym, they are really tough and great for building climbing power.
That make sense. Plus, long runs on trails are much more fun than roads or rail trails.
Unfortunately, I am getting over the flu, so I will be DNS at the 25k I had planned for this weekend, but I think there is one at the end of February that I may be able to do for the training. I haven’t done anything over a 30k in the past. The race in June is a 50k. I am familiar with the trails, so I figure it will take approximately the same amount of time as a HIM, and plan on pacing according to that effort.
out of curiosity, what sort of pack are you carrying?
multi-day hiking with a big heavy pack is tough… for a day-hike, you’re not carrying much more than what a lot of trail runners would carry anyway (weight is almost all water)
some folks like to go on day hikes carrying superfluously heavy packs. i get that if you’re about to head off to do the appalachian trail some practice is necessary, but no need to overdo it.
You won’t be less fit bc of the hike, the question is will you be more run fit than running would have gotten you.
But in the off season it’s more important to earn some brownie points, do things you normally wouldn’t do like hiking and tubing lazy river than it is to worry about how run fit hiking vs running is.
Of course duration, speed, pack vs no pack, day hike vs multi-day will all influence how much it benefits you running. But it’s certainly unlikely to have any negative impact.
I recently had 2 months off running before spending 5 weeks camping out in Canadian Rockies. I was pretty much hiking every day except for Saturdays when I ran a trail race. I did no other running and returned home far more run-fit than when I started my holiday.
I had the absolute opposite experience. Had a noticeable drop in my run/bike performance after a week of hard hiking (5-7hrs per day with lots of climbing, with a 45lbs pack) on the Inca trail.
How fast is your running? I find it hard to believe that hiking will prepare you will or reinforce the run motions required to run 7min/mile or faster, if you’re doing those multiday long hikes and not ultrailight short running hikes (which are a lot closer to running than heavy pack hiking.)
My take on it is, since you’ll be hiking with people who are not runners or triathlete, you’ll be faster and have more endurance than them so your hikes won’t really be a cardio workout. I’m in that situation when I hike. So what I do is pack almost evernything in my backpack and leave only really light stuff for my girlfriend to carry (without telling her). Then the hike becomes more a muscular workout and we can hike more at the same speed. I think you get more benefits for your hiking by running than you’ll get benefts to your running by hiking.