Trail running has given a huge boost to running and provided a new outlet for athletes looking to test themselves over diverse terrain while escaping the urban challenges of traffic, exhaust, and construction zones. With marathon training requiring so many miles of training per week, hitting the trails can be an attractive diversion.
You can incorporate trail running into your marathon training plan to enhance mental preparation and build strength, but you must consider timing factors and the risks associated with running on the trails.
To make trail running a productive part of your marathon training, follow these strategies and work with a coach to maintain the proper balance between trail running and focused marathon training.
Trail running builds strength and improves form
As you accumulate marathon training miles, there are many benefits to changing surfaces. Trail running strengthens muscles in the foot, ankle, and pelvis that are not developed while running on urban terrain. This strengthening increases overall muscle recruitment, creating more power and greater running efficiency, which is crucial for the 26.2-mile distance.
Trail types and their benefits
There are two major sources of trails: hiking trails and rails-to-trails (abandoned railroad tracks turned into trails). Each provides different topographical aspects to a training session.
Hiking trails provide higher-effort training and steeper elevation changes to improve hill running technique. Rails-to-trails, by nature of their design, are relatively flat and straight and have a consistent trail surface, making them ideal for the steady-state and tempo efforts that are central to marathon training.
Using rails-to-trails for steady-state and tempo training
I define steady-state as a session that incorporates 50 to 70 minutes of running at 70-75% effort in the middle of a long run. The idea is to run with purpose versus just logging long run miles. Steady-state trail runs are a great building block in your training plan leading to tempo training.
Tempo training differs in intensity. The tempo training I prescribe calls for 80-85% effort in intervals of five to 10 minutes with 60 to 90 seconds recovery, or longer efforts up to 40 minutes without recovery.
When completed on rails-to-trails, the focus of steady-state and tempo training is on pacing or form, not navigating traffic or beating red lights.
Training Tip → After a trail session, use Analyze 360 to view all workout data channels in one place. Track your Detected Climbs, analyze heart rate and power trends throughout your run, and compare your effort against your 90-day power curve.
Trail running increases the effectiveness of your sessions
Studies have shown that running on lower stiffness surfaces like soft trails increases the corresponding metabolic demands of running without otherwise changing running support mechanics.
This is helpful during the marathon base building phase when intensity is low and volume is increasing, as it allows increased workload without requiring speed training or overly increasing mileage.
Trail running improves mental training
Mentally speaking, trail running provides an escape from traffic, crosswalks, and running on crowded roads. Nothing makes a run go by faster than quiet, natural surroundings where you are not bombarded with horns and stoplights. Getting out on a trail allows you to truly focus on the training session objectives, running form, and even competition goals.
Getting in “the zone”
When talking about a great marathon performance, runners always talk about getting into a good rhythm, or being in “the zone.” This is easy on a blocked-off racecourse with the whole road to use, but in training it can be challenging and best accomplished on a trail. Getting in the zone is something that can and should be practiced in training, and trails are an ideal place to find a distraction-free environment.
One method to get in the zone is mentally concentrating on the sound of each footstep hitting the trail and recognizing change in pace through sound (similar to learning rhythm on a musical instrument). This exercise is most successful if you leave your headphones at home and find a quiet trail without distractions.
Reducing mental fatigue
Research shows the positive mental effect of hitting the trails. Participants tend to walk faster, with a lower RPE, and at a greater physiological effort (verified by heart rate and blood lactate), suggesting they perceive exercise to be less demanding when performed in a natural environment. This lower perceived effort has advantages during high volume marathon training, when mental fatigue makes it harder to complete (or sometimes just start) a training session.
Mental preparation for marathons is just as important as physical preparation in regards to focus, race strategy, and motivation. Trail running provides an opportunity to practice these skills and escape the stress related to urban running.
The drawbacks of too much trail running
Getting back to nature is not all positive; there are some drawbacks and risks.
It can derail your target road marathon pace
Marathon training requires very specific pacing work that may be simulated on trails, but the physiological demands will differ versus racing on roads. The differences will vary depending on the trail’s topography or the quality of the surface.
To develop the proper marathon pacing, the majority of your training (especially three to five weeks out from the race) should be executed on the same surfaces and similar terrain to that of the target competition.
This makes trail running more suited to the base training or strength phase and during an occasional aerobic training session.
Increased risk of soft tissue injury
Most hiking trails incorporate inclines and elevation changes that no civil engineer would plan for a city street. Extreme ascents and descents pose injury risks and require proper focus and timing within the training plan.
While bone injuries are more common with road running, soft tissue injuries are more common on softer surfaces. This is partly due to the body’s natural process of adjusting leg tension to the surface stiffness. During each strike, the ligaments and tendons act like springs, adjusting their tension based on feedback from the previous steps. This enables the body to adapt to both hard roads or soft and unstable trails.
With no clear answer as to which surface is ideal for training every day, aim for moderation to minimize the risk of soft tissue and bone-related injuries.
Fortunately, the risks associated with trail running can be mitigated with a purposefully designed training plan.
Add trail running to your marathon training plan
When properly applied, trail running can be a productive component of any marathon training plan. Running on trails can provide the ideal training environment to build strength and accommodate tempo training. Trails are ideal environments to fine-tune mental skills and relieve the stress of chaotic urban environments. For a successful marathon, consult an experienced coach to set up your marathon training plan and effectively implement trail running sessions within your plan.
References
- Kerdok, A.E. et al. (2002, February). Energetics and mechanics of human running on surfaces of different stiffnesses. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11796653/
- Ceci, R. & Hassmén, P. (1991, June). Self-monitored exercise at three different RPE intensities in treadmill vs field running. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1886482/
