Trail Running - Why Should It Be In Your Current Running Program?

Trail running has many benefits for runners of all distances. It can be a great supplement to anyone’s training! It is not only fun but has a lot of different benefits to enhance running performance (mentally and physically) and reduce running injuries.

1.      Softer Running Surface – Running on a trail provides a much softer running surface than road running. It allows your body to recover by taking some of the wear and tear off of your body while still getting the training that you need.  

2.      Take It Easy & Slow It Down – Trail running slows you down and allows you to train smarter not harder. Many runners tend to take their easy days too hard which can keep their body from fully recovering for their hard training days causing fatigue and leading to possible injuries. Also, not getting the most out of their hard days of running training. The importance of “easy running” is to build the quality of your muscle. It improves the capillary density in your muscle allowing you to bring more blood flow and oxygen into the working muscle and improve your overall running efficiency. It builds a base within your muscle for higher intensity workouts to be performed. It enhances recovery and heals the body from the training stresses that come through training. Remember, sometimes it's ok to take it easy and slow down your run.

3.      Strengthening Other Stabilizing Muscles – When you are running on a trail it changes the muscles you are using while you are running. It takes some of the stress off of your major running muscle groups by using some of the secondary stabilization muscles since you are running on an uneven surface. The stabilizing muscles in your ankles, lower legs, core, and hips.

4.      Improves Your Running Gait  – Your stride on a trail will be different than your stride on the road. The uneven surface of the trail will cause you to shorten your stride and run more on your forefoot than in the heels of your foot. Shortening your stride improves the overall efficiency of your run using less energy with each step. Running on your forefoot is much more efficient and natural to your body’s overall running mechanics.

5.      Mental Training Break – When your training starts to become a mental barrier, trail running can give you the mental break that you need. Not only on your body, but even more importantly the mental drain that can come through long training runs and the hours training. It allows you to just enjoy your run and forget about the timing and pace.

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Here is a link to all of the different trails and distances in Minneapolis, MN

-          http://www.minneapolisparks.org/documents/parks/pathway_distances.pdf

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Go online and check out the different trail running options in your area! I have introduced trail running into my training program for the last few months and I love it! It is fun, relaxing, and a great change of scenery! It allows you to get the most out of your recovery and running mentally and physically.

Please feel free to post comments or recommend any trails that you enjoy running on! My trail running has mostly been in St. Louis Park so I recommend the Theodore Wirth Park running trails. Also, around Lake Calhoun if you are looking for a 5K distance that is flat and off the pavement on a softer surface (next to the running trail).

Check out my website at www.runwithmemeghan.com! It is linked right to my blog, and if you click under the different tabs at the top, you can check out old postings that you may be interested in reading!

 

Happy Trail Running! J