Trail running training

Cross country training is what you're going to seek. That with lydiard style base and hill phase. These two phases should be more emphasized than the sharpening phase.

The sharpening can come naturally depending on how you implement hills and decreasing long runs.

Of course the best training is tailored to the athlete so that is why trail runners "go by feel."

Trail runners typically cross train either in season or off season and can be road biking, mtn biking, xc skiing, skimo, hiking and backpacking.

This generates a lot of strength and aerobic conditioning.

For inspiration, look at some individuals past and present who are trail runners at heart that have trained professionally for track or road. Herb Elliot never ran on the road. He also ran barefoot a lot. And he ran by feel. I don't know why you think this is a bad thing? Or maybe you find it frustrating because you don't know the elements of proper training and can't run by feel? Which leads me to say trail running does not need a watch or GPS the majority of the time.

Long runs tend to be longer compared to weekly mileage for trail runners. And these are ofen measured in time, not distance. Often long runs can be back to back. This isn't just for ultra running as this is training to run on tired legs in all sorts of races.

Trail runners, like cross country runners work on surges a lot, more so than most other running disciples. Again, you don't need a watch to practice surges. Though, you should know your top end speed.

I'm running a trail marathon with about 4000' of ascent in October and am thinking about training. Overall my plan is a tempo, some hills and a long run every week with as much easy running as I can fit in.

My main question is about running for effort, not pace - if I can maintain a consistent effort and vary speed for the hills, that's got to be better than balls-out attacking the hills, right?

Sounds like the "just train by fell and not professional at all" approach might be the best.

I'd be trying to make the tempo and long run over hilly routes. Assuming there will be a lot of descent too, it's good to get in some fast downhill running too - trail your quads to cope with the eccentric loading.

It's very hard to run constant effort on hills. You'd have to slow down a lot. Typically, uphill pace will decrease and effort will increase but downhill pace increase, effort decrease - so you get some recovery.

Thanks - yes, where I live is hilly so most long runs include hills. I've been looking at my heart rate in a couple of recent hill races and you're right - it's definitely increasing on the climbs but weirdly it's often higher on the descents - I think I'm putting in more effort going downhill if anything :-D That's not massively surprising as my strength is often technical descents.

Think I just need to try to even out the spikes in heart rate though to survive a longer race.

At the risk of stating the obvious, one thing I'd suggest is doing a lot of those tempo efforts on trails. Running fast on trail is a slightly different skill than roads, and I find mentally tiring at first.

Also, focusing on descents in training -- not so fast as to destroy your quads, but get comfortable not holding back going down. Most people aren't very good at descents, and you can make big gains there independent of fitness.

If you look at results, most solid road runners are also solid on the trails. With possibly the exception of mountain and ultra racing, the training principles of trail running are really no different than any other type racing, whether it's track, cross country or road racing (physiology is physiology). Just switch up the surface you're training on to ensure it mimics the conditions you will be racing on.

For example, if you've got an upcoming 10k trail race, you'll want to implement a 10K plan on the surfaces and conditions you'll be racing on. If you're racing on a rough surface with a lot of roots and rocks, you'll want to get your workouts in on similar conditions. If it's got a lot of elevation change, you'll want to get your workouts in on a hilly course.

Another focus is uphill and downhill running. If the course has a lot of elevation change you'll want to get some good hill work in, both uphill sprints, and downhill sprints (a lot of trail runners call downhill sprint workouts "callusing the quads"). Run some tempos on a hilly course, etc. Make sure your legs are equipped for hill work though. It can really crush your legs.

One other note is that a lot of novice trail runners will race the hilly sections of trail races like complete idiots. They'll either sprint up the hills and redline, or they'll take the uphills too easy and tear down the backside absolutely wrecking their quads. Don't be an idiot on the hills.