Train for Your First Trail Race

Although you might have raced a 5K, 10k or a marathon on the roads before, running a trail race of those distances — whether it’s the Leatherman’s Loop 10K in Cross River, New York, the Pikes Peak Marathon in Manitou Springs, Colorado or any one of the dozens of races in the XTERRA Trail Run Series — can be a completely different animal. Because almost every trail race — no matter where it is — has hills, lots of turns or unique obstacles like fallen trees or creeks crossings, you’re not going to be able to run as fast as you would on roads. But it’s not all about what your stopwatch says. Being away from the crowds, running on a soft surface and perhaps taking in some extraordinary views are a few of the appealing things about trail running and why the sport is growing by leaps and bounds in the U.S.

“Once you’ve picked a race, learn about the specifics of the racecourse and train on similar terrain a couple of times per week”, says Dave Mackey, a four-time winner of Colorado’s grueling Breckenridge Crest Trail Marathon 24-miler and a two-time runner-up in the Pikes Peak Marathon.

You’ll still want to mix in long runs and speed work as you would for a road race of the same distance, he says, but adding hill repeats and “fartlek” intervals on similar trails will go a long way in helping you survive with your lungs intact. In one of Mackey’s typical fartlek workouts, he alternates between moderate- and fast-paced spurts that last between three and eight minutes. His total running time varies between 45 minutes and two hours and he typically does the workout once a week on a soft, flat trail.

On race day, Mackey suggests starting slowly and running smart, especially if the race has big hills or is situated at high altitude. “The biggest difference is probably going to be your pace,” Mackey says. “If you normally run 7-minute miles on the road, you’re probably not going to run that pace in a trail run. So you’ve got to make sure you don’t go out too fast in the couple of miles. Otherwise you’ll be completely trashed and sucking air half-way through the race.”

In other words, start slow, enjoy the scenery and pick up speed as you go.  And relish in the fact that, instead of running city streets crowded with hordes of runners, you’re scurrying through the woods like a wild animal.