Are technical trails a waste of time?

Why so slow on the trail? Is it nearly vertical? You should be able to get within a minute of your road pace.

Two good reasons to run on a technical trail: one, you get a good range of motion and sense of balance. It really helps to eliminate achilles problems. Two, it is more fun than pavement. If you are concentrating on where you place your feet, the time will seem shorter.

They may help with your footing and form.

They may also break your ankles.

I think I've personally "maxed out" the benefits I can get from trail running (and sprained a lot of ankles), but I also believe trail running did improve my performance.

not a waste at all. it gives your secondary muscles and joints some exercise and you'll be better for it.

as you do it more you'll get faster at it. its a skill

its also more fun

Trails are all about feel. You can bring the Garmin for distance measuring, but definitely don't worry for a second about pace. If you want to do a medium effort run on trails, run at medium effort. If you want to a hard effort... you get the idea. Pretty simple.

Not worrying about pace/numbers is one of the main reasons I've gravitated more towards the trails. The past couple months I've done 90% of my running on trails. I'm having a blast, I feel healthier than I ever have before and my athleticism is improving.

The one caution is obviously the risk for a sprained ankle/serious fall. Always be scanning the trail in technical sections, make sure to pick your feet up (especially important while tired as knee drive tends to decrease). You definitely need to be checked in mentally.

That is pretty much what I was thinking. A 60min run is a 60min run...I might cover more ground on the roads, but the effort/aerobic benefit is still there.

If nothing else, I think I will give it a try during my base building. If I feel like I have improved, then I will continue to try to keep it as part of my weekly routine.

Thanks

purses wrote:

Why so slow on the trail?...You should be able to get within a minute of your road pace...

That depends on the trail, I've been on many a trail where running wasn't an option do to the difficulty of the terrain.

Ive run on single track mountain bike trails where 7 minute pace is a struggle and for good sections you'll be over 8. I've also tried to run on trails so loose and technical you'd be lucky to get under 10 minute pace and you'll have to watch the ground every step of the way. I'd recommend not running the latter kind unless you plan to race on terrain like that. You'll get no better benefit than from hiking on trails like those and won't be able to go much faster. Stick to places you can actually run fast.

There's a place in Portland called Forest Park. The trails there aren't particularly fast but more than a few elites train on them, probably a couple times a week. Just an example!

I got a couple of ankle sprains. Started using something called "active ankle" and never had another sprain. About five times a year, I'll skim a root or stone and go flat on my face. Anyway, the only pavement I go on is crossing one road out and back, maybe 20 yards total. On a flat trail, I can cruise about 6:30, maybe a minute faster on the road, and maybe 2 minutes slower on hills and rocks.

I think that's a good point. There are definitely some trails that I will avoid...if I have to stop and walk sections of the trail then I will probably avoid it. There are also some with rough creek crossing that I will avoid as well. I'm not afraid of the vertical, as long as it doesn't feel like I'm rock climbing instead of running. My idea is to experiment with some moderately technical trails on my easy days and some of my long runs.

Since I'm in my base phase right now, I'm not overly concerned with running hard, but I do think I will still get some running in on a smooth surface where I run my normal steady state (5:45-5:50), and will still do strides at the end of several of my runs just to stay in touch with some speed.

Current Plan:

M - easy day - trail run

T - moderate effort on a hilly route - roads

W - easy day - trail run

R - easy day - trail run

F - moderate effort/steady state - roads

S - easy day - trail or roads

S - long run - trail or roads

OP,

I live near some really technical trails where I can easily acquire 800 feet of ascent in an hour run. On roads I'll be 6:45-7:25 per mile, but in these trails it's often over 8 minutes at the same or more effort. It's a great workout. Don't do it on easy days. Works your legs in much different ways, different angles, loads, etc. Also a lot less pounding on the areas that are pounded by running on flat, payved roads like a robot 24/7. When I trained on these trails for a few months I hit some road races and CRUSHED it. Don't be thrown off by the slower pace, it's working.

Stop calling running things "technical". It sounds ridiculous.

It's a damn trail, you run on it like every other surface.

Forest Park wrote:

There's a place in Portland called Forest Park. The trails there aren't particularly fast but more than a few elites train on them, probably a couple times a week. Just an example!

Forest Park trails are far from technical.

If you're going so slow watching your feet that your not getting your HR up than its useless unless its for recovery. In which case it's great cause you're recovering but getting some stability work in. As long as you can go fast enough to work up a sweat and feel like you're working you can get a great workout in your just need to accept that it'll take longer.

We do a lot of hiking trail running and most of the time were going up and down the whole time so we'll do 12 miles but it takes two hours. Still get an awesome workout In Though cause you're working for so much longer.

Also as you get used to the rocks and roots your proprioception gets better and you can go faster on the trails.