Trail Lessons

Yesterday, a few of us did a practice run for a women's trail half-marathon at Fountainhead Park. It was tough and the humidity and late (8:30am) start didn't help. Even though it was hard, I learned/confirmed a few things about trail running.

1. I'm a lot slower on trails. On the road, I can average between a 9:30-10:00 minute/mile pace. That's about 6 miles/hour. On yesterday's trail run, we were running between a 12-15 minute/mile pace (4-5 miles/hour). I attribute this to the heat and humidity, and lesson #2.

2. Flats don't exist on trails. There is no such thing as a flat stretch of trail. You're either going uphill or downhill. If you think you're running on flat ground, you're likely going down a gradual incline which will eventually come back to kick you in the a$$ when you have to run back up.

3. Pick up your feet or risk a face plant. When you're running on the road you can easily get away with barely picking up your feet. If you attempt to run this way on the trail, you're probably going to end up kissing Mother Earth. Tree roots, logs, and rocks are just waiting to make a fool out of you. The longer you're out on the trail, the harder this gets since your legs tend to get heavier the more tired they are. Picking up your feet can be particular hard when you let gravity take control on the downhills. Although it's nice to just kinda roll down the hill, you still need to watch out for those speedbumps. One stumble could send you airborne.

4. Bring a lot more fluids and nutrition. Running slower, means a longer run. There are no water fountains or 7-Elevens.

5. Pack dry clothes and towels. Yesterday we were out for almost 3 hours. All of us were completely drenched in sweat. My shorts were dripping sweat down my legs into my shoes. Halfway through, I knotted my soaked ponytail to keep it from dripping any more sweat down into my waterlogged top and to minimize my splash zone so that poor Mandy who was behind me didn't feel like she was running through a sprinkler. I usually have a few towels to cover the car seat so that was part of my usual routine. Fortunately, I brought an entire set of dry clothes to change into for the ride home so that I didn't feel like I was sitting in my swimsuit.