There are several things to keep in mind when transitioning from road running to trail running. Running Coach Jimmy Dean Freeman shares his thoughts. From discovering local trails, to pacing, hiking and more. This is the first of several videos in our "Trail Running Basics" series.
Trail Running Basics
I'm here to talk to you about the trails. It's one of my favorite places to be. A lot of you may be running a lot of roads and you may be wondering how to transition to trail running. The first thing you may want to do is look online, find some local trail running groups, running stores, or even talk to some of your friends who are more experience in running trails than you.
You are going to get out on the trails and one of the first things you are going to do is try to let go of your pace and mileage goals. When you are on the road, it is easy to get caught up on pace per mile. A 6 mile run on road might not take you very long, while on trails this might take you 50% longer.
It is common when you get on the trails to hike a little bit, it is not a continuous run the entire time. You want to start letting go of pace per mile and focus more on your effort and your overall time on feet.
Some of the things you are going to experience on the trails are scenery, dirt and animals. It's a lot more peaceful place to be and it's a hack of a lot more beautiful.
You will realize how beautiful it can be and it's the run you will look forward to every time.
This week enter for a chance to win a $75 Path Projects gift card. To enter, let us know: "what advice would you give to runners looking to start out with or improve their Trail Running?" 1 winner will be picked at random by 4/29/19.
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36 comments
It’s ok to hike up hills
don’t overthink it, just go enjoy
With your first trail run, try to have buddy, group, or notify someone where you’re running and for how long. So many variables can happen and being a novice, it’s a lot to take in. By having someone around or knows where you are, if some unfortunate accident occurs someone can assist or call someone to assist.
Interesting.