Jan. 5, 2021
Fast feet and proper foot placement are the keys to tackling tricky terrain, stairs, and even gnarly downhills. Samantha Kingsford shows us how it’s done on this week’s Trail Running Tips & Tricks for XTERRA.
“In our first video we practiced drills at the track that improve contact time and foot speed, and here we put those techniques into play on forest trails where XTERRA runs,” said Kingsford.
When trail running through technical rooty sections, Kingsford talks about how to change your stride length in order to find a place where you can plant your foot firmly on the ground.
“Be on your toes and pretend like you’re dancing over the top of the roots, and avoid being flat footed,” she said.
For descending forest stairs her top trick is to take them at an angle instead of right down the middle, and when it’s really steep and muddy, it’s okay to stomp really hard and use your heel as a break.
“We always want to push the limits, be on our toes, and have fast feet even on steep downhills, but sometimes you have to be careful not to slide out and if you hit it hard enough with your whole foot you won’t slide.”
Samantha Kingsford is one of the fastest elites in all of XTERRA. She won three majors on the World Tour in 2019 - XTERRA Brazil, Victoria, and Mexico - and also captured the XTERRA Pan Am Tour title.
