Any advice or insight would be appreciated.
I love to run the local Mt Bike trails (aggressive singletrack) and do so more than road training. Plan on doing my first IM later this year or beginning of '15. Any drawbacks to training 80% on the trails for the run? A little background, I’ve done a trail marathon and 50k, three 70.3’s.
Thank you!
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Running is running, just don’t hurt yourself and have to take an extended period off.
Trail running is fun, do it all you want.
jaretj
I tried this, then got Lyme disease and fucked my whole plan right to hell.
How eloquent of you.
Just something to be mindful of. Good luck.
Anything that lets you enjoy training while also for the most part reducing injury is perfect.
Running is running, just don’t hurt yourself and have to take an extended period off.
Trail running is fun, do it all you want.
jaretj
Yes it is. Thank you!
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Anything that lets you enjoy training while also for the most part reducing injury is perfect.
Excellent. Thank you!
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I do all my long weekend runs on trails. All of my other runs I do by distance but trail runs I do by time since it’s generally much slower than on the road. I figure out how long my run would take on the road and then just run that duration on the trails and don’t pay too much attention to how far I go.
I think trail running has its place and is as good or better than training on the road.
I disagree with the general belief that trail running is somehow “safer” when it comes to injuries though.
Ok, one is less likely to get hit by a car or develop a stress fracture.
But way way more likely to twist an ankle or sustain some other kind of accident related injury.
Personally I consider trail running a bit of a risk. (I have had 0 overuse injuries but I twist my ankle on 1 out of every three trail runs I do).
Pretty much what most of the others posted … I think there’s a lot to be said for running on different surfaces in terms of training challenge and effect, and continuing to condition strong anatomical adaptations for running (joints, bones, soft tissue, all of it).
I do all my long weekend runs on trails. All of my other runs I do by distance but trail runs I do by time since it’s generally much slower than on the road. I figure out how long my run would take on the road and then just run that duration on the trails and don’t pay too much attention to how far I go.
Thanks man.
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While I do think that trail running is one of the really fun things in life, my personal experience has been that I got faster at IM running after switching my runs from 50% trail to 90% road.
I think that the trail running provided me a good cushioning, but I found that it made my IM runs harder, since the road is much less forgiving.
Put another way, I think the increase in my road running percentage has toughened me up.
Love to run on trails and used to do all my long runs on trails and most of my other training runs on grass or dirt. Doing that helped me avoid injury, but I do think it may have lessened my ability to maintain my pace in the final half of the IM marathon. My legs just weren’t used to pounding the pavement for that long and they would get quite sore in the final miles. I would suggest mixing in a couple of long runs on pavement in the final 6 to 8 weeks pre IM, but then again everyone’s legs might get quite sore in the final miles no matter how you train…
Agree with most of the other posters. Trail running is a great supplement to a running plan, especially on the “easy” and “just hit your mileage” days. The hard part of trail running is that it doesn’t help you develop an internal gauge for speed and effort on a flat, pavement course (at the IM) and so you may not be training hard or steady enough. I’d try and do your long, tempo, and goal-pace runs on the road or treadmill so you can hit your target paces and develop a sense for speed and pacing.
While I do think that trail running is one of the really fun things in life, my personal experience has been that I got faster at IM running after switching my runs from 50% trail to 90% road.
I think that the trail running provided me a good cushioning, but I found that it made my IM runs harder, since the road is much less forgiving.
Put another way, I think the increase in my road running percentage has toughened me up.
I think i’m the converse. Trail running toughened me up. The terrain, rocks, roots, etc built up my support muscles as well as tendons, ligaments, etc. I’d rather run 10 miles of trail then 6 miles of road.
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Love to run on trails and used to do all my long runs on trails and most of my other training runs on grass or dirt. Doing that helped me avoid injury, but I do think it may have lessened my ability to maintain my pace in the final half of the IM marathon. My legs just weren’t used to pounding the pavement for that long and they would get quite sore in the final miles. I would suggest mixing in a couple of long runs on pavement in the final 6 to 8 weeks pre IM, but then again everyone’s legs might get quite sore in the final miles no matter how you train…
That was my concern. I figured i’d have to mix in some long road work.
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Agree with most of the other posters. Trail running is a great supplement to a running plan, especially on the “easy” and “just hit your mileage” days. The hard part of trail running is that it doesn’t help you develop an internal gauge for speed and effort on a flat, pavement course (at the IM) and so you may not be training hard or steady enough. I’d try and do your long, tempo, and goal-pace runs on the road or treadmill so you can hit your target paces and develop a sense for speed and pacing.
Thanks bro.
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I did a good number of trail runs while preparing for an IM last year. I would do 95% of my time on the road during the week, where I’d either be doing some type of active recovery or speed/tempo work. It was that high of a percentage simply because road running is easier for me to do on my lunch break, although when I am doing sub half marathon pace intervals I just prefer the road. On weekends, I’d sometimes be so sick of running I’d mix it up with a trail run. Mileage would be way down, but effort would still be high. I’d still get some interval work in but it does get interrupted by turns, climbs, rocks, roots, people on the trail, etc. but I don’t think it made much of a difference. Plus it is just way more interesting and helped keep me motivated.
Things I noticed…
I did a good number of trail runs while preparing for an IM last year. I would do 95% of my time on the road during the week, where I’d either be doing some type of active recovery or speed/tempo work. It was that high of a percentage simply because road running is easier for me to do on my lunch break, although when I am doing sub half marathon pace intervals I just prefer the road. On weekends, I’d sometimes be so sick of running I’d mix it up with a trail run. Mileage would be way down, but effort would still be high. I’d still get some interval work in but it does get interrupted by turns, climbs, rocks, roots, people on the trail, etc. but I don’t think it made much of a difference. Plus it is just way more interesting and helped keep me motivated.
Things I noticed…
Great points, all of which are the case for me as well. Thanks!