Trail Running

Me out on the trails

For a while now an old friend and former triathlon rival (whilst I was growing up) has been encouraging me to go for a long steady trail run with him, as he was keen to show me his neck of the woods down the Ribble valley in Lancashire, where he carries out some of his sessions with his business, Racepace Triathlon coaching. So this week we finally got round to it! Having not seen Rodger for quite a while it was a nice catch up as we drove less than 20minutes from Blackburn to the small village of Sabden, before heading out on the trails and fells for a 90minute steady run. Rodge has built up a great local knowledge of the paths and trails, and lead me through some pretty remote areas including a loop round Pendle Hill with some excellent views, before dropping back down to Sabden to finish the 10mile loop. It was great to run in a new environment, and as Rodge stressed, it is an area so many runners live close to but are unaware of, where the variety and amount of trails on offer is great! After the run we went for a quick lunch at a local bakery/café to top off a good afternoon’s work!

My trusty trail shoes

For me, trail running usually includes a bit of multi terrain stuff, so a little bit of road/tarmac to get out to some woods or trials, and maybe some loops rounds fields or pitches, but if it’s off road it should be less impact for those knees which people tell me might stop working properly one day! Trail running probably comprises at least 50% of the steady run miles I do whilst training in Leeds, but this wasn’t always the case. At home, before moving to Leeds for University, I would rarely venture away from roads and lanes, partly because during the winter months it would be dark when I arrived home from school, and I didn’t fancy head-torch running, and partly because I always seemed to turn my ankle whenever I went off road. I would decide to hit the trails on a weekend every few months, and would usually seem to go over on my ankle on a rock, tree root or other small obstacle. This would lead to a few days or a week resting it while it was swollen up like a tennis ball, and put me off trail running for another few months. I also seemed to use the excuse that there were no good trails for running nearby… 

Views of the Lancashire countryside

Having run on trails much more I think I have been converted! One of the benefits has become clear as I believe trail running develops ankle strength and stability, as I no longer seem to roll my ankle, and even when you have that brief moment when you start to go over on it and are thinking “oh f**k”, I somehow seem to bring it back at the last instant and avoid a proper stumble, most likely through improved proprioception. Another bonus is the ups and downs and the interesting scenery compared to pounding the pavements all the time, as you get a chance to see a variety of wildlife and some pretty incredible views in certain locations.

Since deciding I actually quite enjoyed getting out on the trails or in the woods, I’ve found a remarkable number of trails near my house which I never knew were there, until I went looking for them, and now each time I’m back home from Uni, I try to find a new trail or loop to mix into my running. So if you’ve never ventured off the roads, I recommend trying a few off road runs through some woods and trails. If you feel you’re susceptible to twisting ankles, go for smoother, less rocky trails in the first instance, but you’ll soon be able to progress to the rougher paths, and the feeling of discovery gives you another reason to head out running in the cold winter months!

Early Winter Training

So, I've not blogged since May... In the early part of the 2013 season I was enjoying blogging and sharing my experiences of training and racing, but when performances slipped, I was less to keen to share my results and simply stopped blogging. Since then I have completed a season with both of ups and downs, and am into winter training to prepare for the 2014 season.

Heading out on fourth leg at Leeds Uni Relays

Whilst training steadily away, and trying a few different things, I haven't been quite as consistent with training as I would have hoped. The difficulty of this is that I often find myself comparing my training to that of the same time last year, and as I've had a few bouts of illness, and missed training through an inconvenient uni timetable, and essays and deadlines, end up thinking I'll be making less progress than I should. Interestingly, when checking my Garmin training files and comparing total training hours, my October and November were both within two hours of the same two months in 2012. Recently I have done a few "training races", with varying degrees of success; I raced 3 times last weekend the first of which was at the BUCS short course swimming champs in Sheffield, where I used the 1500m as a practise for the 1500m swim I regularly race in Olympic distance triathlons. The race went well and I swam 16.55, a PB by over a minute, and a pleasing result showing my swimming is still gradually progressing in the right direction. The second race was a 2mile leg at the Leeds University Relays with two of my house mates and training partners. Unfortunately I ran the fourth leg, after a great start by Gordon, Liam and Gordon again, put me into first place with a decent lead, I wasn't able to hold onto the lead, struggling on the tough course, blowing dramatically two thirds of the way round, and being chased down by two strong runners; I brought home the team in third position. The third race of the weekend was my debut cyclocross race in York, which was a fun but tough experience, where I enjoyed the different style of racing and finished a distinctly average 38th position! It was also nice to catch up with my old coach Mark who was doing the timing for the race, who I've not seen in a long while.

The other race I have done recently was in November at the BUCS duathlon champs, where I finished a solid 9th position, first home for Uni of Leeds, helping the team to Bronze. I was happy with my splits which showed an improvement from the previous year, despite probably not being as fit as the same time last year, and I rode a strong 22.30 for the 10mile bike leg. Full results can be seen here: BUCS Duathlon 2013

Now in my final week of University before finishing for Christmas I'm looking forward to getting in a couple of weeks of proper consistent training, like I feel I was doing most weeks this time last year, then a nice Christmas at home with the family before heading away to Spain with some of the Leeds Tri Centre group for my first training camp abroad through new year into early January.