Do serious runners, generally speaking, dislike hiking?

i don't really have the patience for hiking unless i am there to do it socially. I was an avid hiker though when i was younger and before i took up running.

But the idea of the places really appeals to me. So i toyed with the idea of trail running. Even bought a book, something like '50 trail runs in Washington State.'

I did a couple of them. It was fun.

Just thinking about it has me itching to give it another go.

Best of both worlds (in some respects)?

I like hiking. My ankles are too weak to run on trails, so if I want to hit a trail I gotta walk it.

One of jamin's better troll threads. Managed to offend both hikers and runners and got a lot of bites.

7/10

jamin wrote:

I would say yes and for the following reasons

* Feels inneficient to them because it takes 5x as long (including drive to trailhead) to ultimately cover the same distance with your legs.

* Serious/obsessive runners avoid any physical activity that isn't running, as they're afraid it steals time/energy from their training cycle and adds injury risk.

* Serious runners are anhedonics, so something like an "epic view of a lake " doesn't activate pleasure centers in their brain.

* Lots of mental overhead involved in memorizing/navigating routes, forks in the road, etc. Runners, if they do hike, want to do it vigorously and be able to zone out and just push forward.

I was once a serious runner, and loved hiking. Mostly hiked on the John Muir Trail, Pacific Crest etc mostly doing overnights. These days shorter hikes on trails in Maine where I have a cabin. Very enjoyable :)

I enjoy hiking, but you do have to factor it into training. 10 miles in 4 hours is 4 hours of exercise, even if easy/moderate. If you ran later, you probably would be more tired.

I am focusing on the 5k (well, technically, I am focused on my injuries, so that first...) so if I am on trails, I am running. I too live in the Seattle area, and there are plenty of good trail systems.

I like Tiger Mountain and Cougar Mountain. Some of the trails are too steep or technical for 5k training, but there are some flatter/smooth trails too.

Personally, I like to ski more than hike, otherwise, I'll just do a trail run, even if I have to hike the steep parts.

joecrunner wrote:

I enjoy hiking, but you do have to factor it into training. 10 miles in 4 hours is 4 hours of exercise, even if easy/moderate. If you ran later, you probably would be more tired.

I am focusing on the 5k (well, technically, I am focused on my injuries, so that first...) so if I am on trails, I am running. I too live in the Seattle area, and there are plenty of good trail systems.

I like Tiger Mountain and Cougar Mountain. Some of the trails are too steep or technical for 5k training, but there are some flatter/smooth trails too.

Personally, I like to ski more than hike, otherwise, I'll just do a trail run, even if I have to hike the steep parts.

Cool.

You might also like Rattlesnake Ledge near North Bend. I ran that once and day-hiked it several times. Best to do it during the week because it can get crowded.

Just looked it up and apparently it is closed, from their website: "Note: As of October 2020, this trail is still closed due to COVID-19. "

I've run a bunch of trails around Cougar Mountain, though it was mostly flat from what i remember. As for Tiger Mountain, I mountain biked it a lot and ran the loop of trails around the base a few times as well. The trails at the base were excellent for trail running.

Hey, there is also a trail across the street from Duthie, called something like Grand Ridge. It is fairly flat and I ran and mountain biked it a few time, as it is really nice, too.

Bet most of these trails are closed now due to covid, though.

Good luck with your 5K, and happy trails!

Cougar & Tiger mountains are great because they don't get too much snow and you can pretty much hike them year round. They are all "day hike" trails as in they are not backpacking trails/overnight camping. Bad thing is that they are both very close to Seattle and Bellevue so they get very crowded. The weekends are even worse. Mt. Si is the same but a bit higher and it does get more snow the further up you go. Most all of my hiking is in the summer/fall when the trails have less or no snow on them.

seattle prattle wrote:

Cool.

You might also like Rattlesnake Ledge near North Bend. I ran that once and day-hiked it several times. Best to do it during the week because it can get crowded.

Thanks, Captain Obvious. Literally 100% of the Seattle population and their grandma has hiked Rattlesnake Ridge multiple times.

north bender wrote:

seattle prattle wrote:

Cool.

You might also like Rattlesnake Ledge near North Bend. I ran that once and day-hiked it several times. Best to do it during the week because it can get crowded.

Thanks, Captain Obvious. Literally 100% of the Seattle population and their grandma has hiked Rattlesnake Ridge multiple times.

Not me! I've never been up there and really have no motivation to hike that trail for the obvious reasons. I must be in that rare 1%.

How can you live in Washington State and not wanna hike?