The Benefits of Trail Running

I learned to run on my toes at Santa Teresa. I was forced to run on my toes at Santa Teresa which made learning easy. 

My favorite set of trails. (Santa Teresa County Park, San Jose, CA)

What trails do

Trails do many things for your feet versus concrete including:

• Protection from my impact
• Strengthening of foot muscles (think uneven surfaces)
• Bruise/toughen feet (think rocks)

Trails do many things for your running technique versus concrete including:

• Force well-placed steps
• Challenge you to dynamically adjust stride length (sort of like that last thing, but not exactly)
• Allow the use of different muscle groups (think uphill and downhill)

Trails let you do many things for your running versus concrete including:

• Add spice (think nature, hilltop views, wild hogs chasing you, etc.)
• Avoid direct car exhaust and traffic
• Lose yourself in a rhythm.

After running on trails, you won't be one of those whiny marathoners who complains about cobblestones or slanted roads.

Up above the concrete and traffic

Smooth Trails

Smooth trails are great for developing your feet if you've just switched to minimalist shoes. Often, at first, after runs you will feel pain on the bottom "bones" of your feet from impacting the concrete. (We're talking about the forefoot here. No heel striking!) A hard dirt trail is much softer than concrete. A soft dirt trail is much softer than a hard dirt trail.

A smooth trail up a gradual slope

Rocky Trails

Rocky trails are awesome and exhilarating. Initially, full mental concentration is required to place each step on a stable, grippy surface as the ground flies underneath you. Keep your head up for low hanging branches too!

I was actually just walking with my camera gear. No running shorts today.

Rocky trails like these force you onto your toes. Plodding along on your heels just won't cut it. You need to maintain your agility on the slipping gravel, turning rocks, and occasional mossy stone. This helped me realize over a year ago the right way to run.

Steep Trails

Steep trails (or steep sidewalks if you live in San Francisco) are great for exercising the limits of your toe running technique. Steep uphills keep you on your toes whether you like it or not. It would take conscience effort to get your heels on the ground on a sufficiently steep uphill. Don't force it, let your body move naturally. When you get tired on uphills, never walk. Keep your running form (steps and cadence) by taking shorter strides. You may be moving at a walking pace, but you will be doing it with good running form.

Steep downhills are one of the hardest things to run on/down. The ground inclination means that it will take some effort to ensure the toes are contacting the ground before the heel. What's worse, the foot will have less flex room when lowering toward the ground for shock absorption. The solution is to keep the knees bent and take short quick steps. Shorter steps reduce total impact, and using your knees takes some of the shock off your feet. When you can run downhill smoothly, you have accomplished something great.

Yes, it's possible to run both up and down unusually steep trails

Rocky Steep Trails

Steep trails with rocks are one of the worst things you'll ever run on. (What else is there... snakes, coals, lava... ) Going uphill you are tired but still need to watch out for loose ground and uncomfortable pointy things. The trick is to use short quick strides landing directly under your center of gravity. Even if the rock you're stepping on shifts a few inches, you should be ok balance-wise.

This hill kicks my butt every time

Downhill can be even worse. Land on a loose rock and you will likely slide a ways. Be cautious on these downhills. A few seconds faster isn't worth cutting yourself up. Take very short, quick steps so that if your planted foot slides, the other foot is nearby to save you.

The same hill as in the photo above, looking downhill

Apply this same advice for rocky trails to slippery, muddy trails as well. Short steps will allow you to keep your speed while keeping a backup foot ready when the planted foot slips.

Mudslicks act like gooey gravel

Tips

Run responsibly out on trails. If you twist your ankle or break a hip, it might take you awhile to get home. Take safe lines (a path along a trail) through rocky sections and don't open yourself up to falls, cuts, and bruises. Have fun running up hills that aren't possible to run on.

Don't step on loose rocks on the trail. Go around rather than over.

Action:

Go run on a trail!

-- Coach

Some Running Inspiration

"You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore" -- Chistopher Columbus

"Running" Magazines

I get pretty upset when I read "running" magazines. Today, they feature "minimalist" running shoes, most of which feature gobs of padding and a giant caveat like "nice flexible sole but only for soft trails!" For tradition or liability's sake, these magazines won't yet leave the padded shoes in a donation bin.

How can you convince yourself there is something better out there? My number one recommendation is to try it for real. However, it might take a year or so before you really start to feel the benefits of running the way you're designed. In the meantime, read some books that will tell you how awesome running on your toes can be!

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

I consider this book to be a sort of running bible. It is not a how-to-run book per se because it goes deeper into running lifestyle. It's also a crazy good story.

The Best Book On How to Barefoot Run by Charlie Reid and Josh Leeger

This book literally goes through strength drills and stretches to get you out on your feet building muscle in a sane, structured fashion. It's a quick read that progresses in a natural order. I disagree with some of the methodology because I believe in a more forward approach to learning how to run: trying it, doing too much, realizing how dumb it was to run so much so soon, repeating.

Ice and Massage

...will save you from most screw-ups. If you feel sharp, intense pains while running, just stop. Blogs and books should be running motivators, not limiters. Let your own body be your limiting factor, but stay on friendly terms. Take time off and let the injuries heal. Try out techniques that other people have found work for them and see if they help you. Don't get stuck in a rut or stop believing that you will enjoy running.

Action:

Try some running technique you haven't.

-- Coach

Feet

Feet are Key

Shoes don't matter when running. Shoes may do several things to your feet while running including:

1. Cause blisters
2. Constrict/restrict movement
3. Force unnatural foot angles to the ground

Shoes may also do several useful things for your feet while running including:

1. Protection from thorns and glass
2. Reduce blisters :-)
3. Soften the concrete (however, this isn't necessarily the best thing)

So here's the deal, protect your feet by wrapping the bottom in a thin piece of rubber and the top with a mesh or light leather upper. This does several good things like protect your toes from sticks and thorns and the balls of your feet from the previous and more. Shoes can be a really good thing for protecting your feet from the right things.

Avoid extreme shoe padding. Look for a shoe with heel padding that is equal to, or nearly equal to the forefoot padding in height. I've found this allows the most natural foot motion when you aren't willing to run barefoot. At all costs, avoid the gigantic heel wedge found in most running shoes. This severely limits heel motion which in turn disables the calves from offering their natural shock absorbing abilities.

Some examples of decent shoes include New Balance's MT-20/WT-20 and the two shoe models made by Skora. I'm not endorsing these shoes per se, but I have trained and run half marathons in each and found them acceptable. What you need is a flat shoe that stays out of the way of your feet. Avoid shoes are are too squishy or that have weird sole protrusions as these will interfere with what your feet want to do naturally.

A thickly padded shoe will hide your bad form from you. A thin shoe will train you to run lightly on concrete because it will hurt if you don't :-) I initially felt minor bruising on the bottom of my feet when I started running in thin shoes, but, gradually, my feet became tougher, my form became better, and that pain disappeared.

In a pinch, try using some racing flats as your starter shoes.

Lazy Toes

While running, it's important to maintain relaxed muscles. While running, it's imperative to maintain relaxed muscles. While running, relax.

Relax.

After landing on the balls of your feet (really, the two contact points behind the big toe and little toe, your foot's like a tripod if you include the heel) and allowing heel to lower in a controlled fashion until it slightly touches the ground, RESIST THE URGE to curl and dig your toes into the pavement for a push off. Doing this will cause two bad things:

1. Blisters on the front of the toes (Symptom A)
2. Pain in the toes and calves due to muscular knots (Symptom B)

Everybody seems to make this mistake initially when changing running styles. Make a conscious effort to either float along without pushing off or to push off from the balls of the feet while keeping the toes relaxed. Lazy toes.

Lazy Feet

There's no need to point your toes to the sky... ever. While running, keep your toes pointing toward the ground. A stride should generally work like:

1. Balls of foot contact the ground directly under or slightly forward of the body's center of mass.
2. Balls of foot press down fully into the ground. This should feel like you are grabbing the ground with your foot so you can pull it behind you, as if you were on a treadmill.
3. Let the heel sink down to the ground as the calf muscles relax. Let the heel touch the ground if it's comfortable. On steep uphills, the heel may not reach the ground. On steep downhills, it may take extra work to keep the heel from slamming into the ground. You control the heel.
4. Raise the heel off the ground and kick your leg back at the the primarily the knee but also the hip. This is forward propulsion. You do not dig your toes in to do this. This force should primarily come from the balls of your feet.
5. Go back to Step 1 using the other leg.

In that list, there is no requirement to keep your toes arched to the sky. After a foot pushes off, let it droop toward the ground. To point it up is a waste of energy. This is called running with your toes pointed down. It's efficient, and it reduces muscular knots in your feet and shins.

Action:

Find a track. Run barefoot for 1/4 mile with relaxed feet and toes. This is how running should feel.

Finally, you must use this advice at your own risk. Some advice will go against conventional wisdom and doctors' advice. I am not a doctor and do not claim to be smarter than a doctor; I am a coach.

-- Coach