Any Trail Runners?

[tromano]

I picked up trail running after developing a general malaise for MTB a few summers ago. My sister and Bro in-laws had been doing marathons. So I figured trail run was a good thing to try. That was about 3 years ago. I have kept it up and I really like the sport alot. I can run 10 miles in a couple of hours if I want to wear myself out and I think its more of a concentrated workout that fits into my busy summer schedule.

I found that it had a great impact on my skiing. I think the extension movements from trail running more directly apply to skiing than cycling movements. My foot quickness is alot better, my ability to feel the bottoms of my feet is more sensitive, that leads to much better balance, and I feel like the supporting muscles in the lower leg are much stronger and I am able to stand on my skis independently of my boots now where as before I was often leaning on my boots to support me. Often when I want to ski down a challenging slope I will tell myself to run down that hill. It feels like a direct translation to me.

 

[luliski]

I picked up trail running after developing a general malaise for MTB a few summers ago. My sister and Bro in-laws had been doing marathons. So I figured trail run was a good thing to try. That was about 3 years ago. I have kept it up and I really like the sport alot. I can run 10 miles in a couple of hours if I want to wear myself out and I think its more of a concentrated workout that fits into my busy summer schedule.

I found that it had a great impact on my skiing. I think the extension movements from trail running more directly apply to skiing than cycling movements. My foot quickness is alot better, my ability to feel the bottoms of my feet is more sensitive, that leads to much better balance, and I feel like the supporting muscles in the lower leg are much stronger and I am able to stand on my skis independently of my boots now where as before I was often leaning on my boots to support me. Often when I want to ski down a challenging slope I will tell myself to run down that hill. It feels like a direct translation to me.

I do a little trail running. I have to drive to get to hilly trails, so I mostly run on flat trails or roads. But I love getting off road, and can see how running downhill could translate to skiing. I am signed up to do an 11.2 mile trail race next weekend, but I'm not really ready due having back issues. Even when I'm running well, my favorite race distance is 5k, so this distance will be a stretch for me. I'll try to pretend I'm skiing!

 

[noncrazycanuck]

been doing same for a very long time. Always find it a better workout than cycling.
And trails are way more interesting than pounding the pavement. I also find it easier on the joints and the hills give a good variable work out.
But my favorite is beach running. Going boulder to boulder each stride is also good for foot quickness, balance and agility plus when your on the loose sand it's good for the muscles.
don't know if you have beach's to run on in Utah but you probably won't have to watch out for seaweed.

 

[neonorchid]

I try.

My neighborhood park has 50 miles of trail, a gorge along a sizable creek with feeders coming from the hills flanking each side. Steep, flat, technical, whatever the flavor, it's all there to some extent.

5K - 10K is about right for me. Have to admit I purposely started earlier and at a different trail head tonight then the trail running group so I could walk a hilly four miles to loosen up enough to run a fun roller coaster one and a half mile finish.

 

[Mikey]

Used to trail run in Hawaii. One particular was my favorite, called Aiea Loop. 4.4 miles of up and down. Located up in the central mountain range on Oahu, it was damp, wet, or sloshy most of the time. Most dangerous was damp wet conditions when the compacted red dirt was incredibley slippery in some sections. Also, lots of tree roots hidden under fallen leaves just waiting to trip you or bend your ankle in a bad way. Bit it hard a few times. Still.. a lot of fun and is the only way I can enjoy any kind of running/jogging. Going back to do some part time work for a few weeks next week so think I'll try it out again. Hit the Koko head stairs again as well.

Remember hiking one of the trails out in Hawaii years ago. We all had our hiking boots and was moving along on a really wet and slippery trail. Absolutely flying the opposite direction were 3 locals running in bare feet. Completely balanced and not placing a foot wrong in the slippery conditions. I was pretty amazed until I went hiking with Nat. She showed me what she was capable of in Thailand. She hates hiking up, but LOVES flying downhill and is especially surefooted in steep, rocky conditions. She's not fast in regular shoes though...She's fast in her flip-flops. Couple years ago, we hiked up Half Dome. Longest hike she had ever done by a longshot and was not happy at all on the way up. On the way down, though, she lit up once she put her flip flops on and put her foot on the gas. Strange and very cool seeing someone so effortless, light and surefooted flying down a steep, rocky section in flip flops.

 

[tromano]

I think sometimes for running less is more and feeling the ground under your feet is more stable than a burly protective shoe.

 

[neonorchid]

I think sometimes for running less is more and feeling the ground under your feet is more stable than a burly protective shoe.

Agree, only my trails are too technical for minimalist shoes. Bottoms of my feet always took a beating. Also I once slid a landing, slamming my foot sideways into a rock, ouch! After three seasons in minimalist shoes I tried maximalist shoes and was always torquing my ankles in those thick cushioned Hoka Stintson ATR's!

 

[luliski]

Agree, only my trails are too technical for minimalist shoes. Bottoms of my feet always took a beating. Also I once slid a landing, slamming my foot sideways into a rock, ouch! After three seasons in minimalist shoes I tried maximalist shoes and was always torquing my ankles in those thick cushioned Hoka Stintson ATR's!

Hoka's scare me. I trail run in Saucony Peregrines, They have a 4mm drop, and the rock plate (or whatever it's called) to keep sharp rocks from hurting your feet.

 

[socalgal]

Hoka's scare me. I trail run in Saucony Peregrines, They have a 4mm drop, and the rock plate (or whatever it's called) to keep sharp rocks from hurting your feet.

I used to do more running in the past, but life. The Peregrines were nice-- I really liked their low drop.

 

[luliski]

I used to do more running in the past, but life. The Peregrines were nice-- I really liked their low drop.

I have also cut back on running. I miss it; it's so easy.

 

[tromano]

I have been running pearl izumi em trail n3 this summer. Big cush, rock plate, low drop. My shoes from last year had no rock plate and were lower cushioning. I found that I just learned to step on rocks so much. These bigger shoes let me get lazy.

Got the day off tomorrow. Think I will go for a run.

 

[neonorchid]

Hoka's scare me. I trail run in Saucony Peregrines, They have a 4mm drop, and the rock plate (or whatever it's called) to keep sharp rocks from hurting your feet.

I can't even begin to list all of the low to zero drop trail running shoes I've been thru. Saucony's aren't among them, they don't fit my foot.

I'm currently running in the Hoka Speed Instinct, has much less stack height than the others but they've been falling apart at an alarming rate. And it's not just me -
I may try the second version because the first version fit really well once the uppers loosened up, and subsequently fell apart! -
https://www.rei.com/product/117674/hoka-one-one-speed-instinct-2-trail-running-shoes-mens

Or give the Brooks Mazama a try. Only it's really more of a summer shoe and the last Brooks zero drop shoe I got when Brooks began making zero drop shoes literally curled up like a semi circle in no time. -
https://www.rei.com/product/103756/brooks-mazama-trail-running-shoes-mens

 

[Primoz]

Now question is what is "trail running" If it's what I consider as trail running, then I do it way too little. Maybe once or max, twice every 2 weeks, with a bit more during autumn and sprint, and lot less during winter. But I consider this as basically running around mountains, which means some 1000+ meters of ascend in some 20km run. If trail running is considered as running in forest trails, then that's basically only running that I do, as pretty much 90% of my running kilometers are on forest trails behind our house. And then instead of one or two runs every few weeks, I come to some 5 or 6 runs a week in autumn Those rest 10% are when it's too much snow, too much mud or I just feel I want some fast flat run, which brings me to asphalt. But I try to avoid that as much as possible, as it's simply too boring

 

[luliski]

Or give the Brooks Mazama a try. Only it's really more of a summer shoe and the last Brooks zero drop shoe I got when Brooks began making zero drop shoes

My favorite road shoe is the Brooks Pure Flow, so maybe this would work for me. Running all year in "summer" shoes is fine around here. But the Peregrines are just fine, and I don't get to do hilly trail runs that often. Sounds like you have good trails nearby. Lucky!

 

[luliski]

running in forest trails,

This sounds nice and a great way to train.

I want some fast flat run

This is my favorite kind of run, but I can only do it if I've done plenty of the above^.

 

[luliski]

Did a trail race this morning. Luckily they let me switch to 6.6 mi distance, which was still long for me, but better than 11.2. The trail was at a lake, and was nice and rolling. There were a few, short, steep uphills and downhills, but most of it was rollers. Some of it was on sand. I really enjoyed the downhills and the run outs! I think you do use skiing muscles for downhill running (eccentric contraction-think we talked about this in another thread). I think the focus on agility is good training for skiing too. Anyway, it was super-fun.

 

[Crank]

I used to a long time ago. My buddy and I used to love running this dry creek bed in the state park where we ran. Great for skiing, balance, reaction, etc.

My back, knees and now hip can't really take running anymore. Have to be careful with my knees just hiking. Cycling and mountain biking though, those I can do no problem.

 

[clong83]

I picked up trail running after developing a general malaise for MTB a few summers ago. My sister and Bro in-laws had been doing marathons. So I figured trail run was a good thing to try. That was about 3 years ago. I have kept it up and I really like the sport alot. I can run 10 miles in a couple of hours if I want to wear myself out and I think its more of a concentrated workout that fits into my busy summer schedule.

I found that it had a great impact on my skiing. I think the extension movements from trail running more directly apply to skiing than cycling movements. My foot quickness is alot better, my ability to feel the bottoms of my feet is more sensitive, that leads to much better balance, and I feel like the supporting muscles in the lower leg are much stronger and I am able to stand on my skis independently of my boots now where as before I was often leaning on my boots to support me. Often when I want to ski down a challenging slope I will tell myself to run down that hill. It feels like a direct translation to me.

I do a ton of trail running in the summers. I do think it really helps my skiing by strengthening my lower leg muscles and improving balance, as you say. It also helps me to keep in the habit of picking a good line and improvising last second if I picked a not-so-good one. That helps improve foot speed, etc.

But I actually think the opposite is probably more true. That is, I think my skiing helps my downhill trail running more than the running helps my skiing. I am overall a middling runner. I am absolutely terrible at ascents, and I generally finish middle-of-pack in a flat race. But I am somehow very good at downhill running. The more technical, the better I can compete with people I have no business running with on flat ground or uphill. I have no explanation for this other than my years of downhill skiing have helped me to feel more comfortable going downhill at high speeds while feeling slightly out of control, and has helped me to know how to pick good lines.

 

[green26]

Fun thread - it's nice to hear from some fellow trail runners. My daily run has about 1300 feet of altitude. It's short and extremely steep. so it doesn't take a lot of time out of my days. After the last fire here in 09 burned to within 6 houses distance from ours, the front country where we live was just a desert. I started exploring the hills cuz there were no vegetation barriers anymore. Eventually I settled into a path of my own making. Now with the chaparral grown back around it, you can see my primitive trail on google satellite view! It definitely helps my skiing. The trail is narrow, rocky and steep. If I don't focus intently, I get hurt - every foot placement has to be considered. The small pebbles act like ball bearings on the hard clay dirt. The varied surface activates a lot of different muscle groups. I run with black diamond poles and wrist weights, which gives me some upper body activity, and the poles are fun for dreaming about skiing. I started running the mountains with a salomon high top trail running boot and have gone through a good 10 pairs of them.

 

[Wilhelmson]

Not a hardcore runner but when it gets too cold to bike to work I switch to running right after work. After work I go straight to the conservation land and run in my dress pants or khakis and sneakers. People look at me funny sometimes but it's nice to get outside after work and once the sun sets I wouldn't be very motivated to run in 20 degree or colder darkness.