Is Trail Running good for your fitness

Seang1965's picture
Seang1965

Question:

Is Trail Running good for your fitness

I just complete my first trail race a few weeks ago. It was the 14k Derwentw*ter trail race and was over various terrain including trails, roads, grass, mud, bogs and rock. There was 400m of climbing. I found it very tough and didn't enjoy the experience much. Everyone I met has been raving about how wonderful it was. It took me a good week to recover enough to get back to my training plan. I wonder whether this type of racing will help me to become a better runner or is it just for people who are in to trail/fell running?

Rob the Roadrunner

Tags: Tagged in Running, Endurance & Overtraining
murrayrichards's picture
murrayrichards

Trail running will develop your dynamic stability. Building the muscle strength in the legs will help prevent injuries in road running. It would be beneficial to run trail runs on occasions but stick to road running to improve you performance in that specific area.

abdurrahman's picture
abdurrahman

Absolutely , it is

d_Soccer5's picture
d_Soccer5

I agree with "murrayrichard". If you're a road runner, trail running would be a great thing to add into your regular routine to provide variety and a new stimulus on the body. However, if you're interested in doing trail running more regularly, than you'll want to reverse it, and use road running as a supplemental part of your program.

Do you think maybe you jumped into too big of a race your first time through? Why not train for another trail race but try something smaller like a 5 or 8km race and see how you feel mentally and physically after that?

Derek Arsenault(CSEP-CPT)
Personal Trainer/Conditioning Coach
www.mylivingenergy.com

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