In this week’s episode, Jim, Katie, and Elena drill into why trail running will make you faster and stronger in all endurance and fitness domains, even if trail running isn’t your primary sport. We cover who should trail run, why trail running is such a secret weapon, how to get started (logistically, physically, and mentally), what data or metrics are most useful to pay attention to in trail running, how to make trail running part of your fitness routine as an urban athlete, strength training considerations, and our favorite trail running workouts, gear items, and memories. We also do a deep dive on why we (mostly) hate the new Strava AI insights and answer a listener question on how to approach racing at altitude if you live at sea level. Even if you have never set foot on a trail, this is a can’t-miss episode! Check it out.
Intro Banter
We are dropping the knowledge with many coaches in the house! And we are bringing the heat about Strava AI!…
Katie:
My thoughts: really don’t like it, for multiple reasons:
(1) We do not need more judgment in this world about our workouts. The only people who get to evaluate your workouts are you and your coach.
(2) More data/feedback can confuse us and gaslight us into adopting straight up wrong information about training.
(3) The algorithm is not very sophisticated! Some examples:
BoMF run
“Your latest run was slower than usual, but you pushed hard and maintained an anaerobic effort throughout. Impressive endurance despite the challenging pace.” 11:37/mile, avg HR 105
Not taking vert into account
Using info from your caption / sub caption to give you feedback and act smarter than it is
Big miss, Strava! I am doing my part by giving feedback on each AI insight as “unhelpful” or “offensive” until they shut it down ;)
Jim - Reasons to ignore Strava AI:
Humans have a negativity bias. We tend to discard the positive comments from these AI analysis programs and instead focus, and hold onto, the negative ones. We are rumination machines.
We generate enough negative comments in our own head, probably hundreds, perhaps thousand daily. The last thing we need is an outside source feeding us more doubting comments on how fit, strong or fast we are (or are not).
No AI coaching app can take into account a complete 360 degree view of your life, mental and physical state and well being. It doesn’t know anything about your Life Stress Score (LSS), it doesn’t know you are recovering from a cold, you had a bad day at work, you were up all night with your sick child or you woke up with a niggle in your calf.
Strava AI isn’t there to improve your life or training. It is designed for you to spend more time in a social media app and condition you to receive more addictive dopamine hits. That’s it. Refuse to be a Pavlov dog! We can’t find a deep and meaningful relationship with our sport If we need an AI dopamine hit after every workout. No one workout is going to move the needle on our fitness and foundation.
What we can do instead:
We talked about this in Episode 20: Good data, bad data. We recommend turning off all auto generated training comments from Garmin. And now I’ll add Strava to that list. And in general try turning off nearly all notifications on your phone and devices except for the critical ones.
Do your best to hit the intention of the workout, make a quick comment in TrainingPeaks (or your training log) on how it felt and then move on with the rest of your day. As the band Boston said: Don’t Look Back!
Think long term: As we always preach, training is a long term commitment, not a transactional process. Long term fitness building is not extraordinary on a day to day basis. Most workouts are just adding little bricks to your aerobic foundation. Things like Garmin insights and Strava AI lead take us away from our greater mission of showing up, doing our best and thinking, big picture and long term gains.
Coaching & Training Insights
Katie:
How to approach feeling under the weather or tired within 2-3 weeks of race day / what it means to say “the hay is in the barn”
Updating my thoughts on the off season
Elena:
Building on our nutrition episode, checking in on carb intake relative to protein and fats. A lot of conditioning these past several years to increase protein intake and lower carbs, so good to get a sense of where you are.
Jim:
Cooler weather = new PRs!
Safe to say, this was a tough summer for a lot of athletes. They worked super hard and were consistent at building fitness but many were not able to express this fitness on race day due to extreme heat.
As the weather has cooled we have seen some massive PRs in run races.
This comes as a big relief to both athlete and coach. When you work at something for months and don’t see a return, it can be hard to believe in yourself and the training. I’m super proud of all of our athletes who focus on the process, are patient and let the results come to them.
One common theme running through the post race conversations was the comment I had made to the athletes pre-race that I believed they could go all in on reaching and exceeding their goal. They said it was a very powerful reminder they can believe in themselves because they had put in the physical and mental training. For more on that subject, shout out to Episode 51: Cultivating self-belief in sport and life
Another point on heat: Next year, I want to focus a lot more attention on heat adaptation and training. I believe heat/humidity is the biggest “X” factor on race day if we have properly addressed physical and mental fitness, fueling and pacing.
For those who want to dive deeper into, here’s what the Norwegians have been doing in their run up to Kona: The Norwegian Heat Training Method – Final Race Prep
Pre-race snacking
I had a call with an athlete running the New York City marathon. As we worked through the logistics of race morning, her race starts at 11am but she starts making her way to the race at 6am. This is reminder for a couple things
Pre-race jitters/adrenal burn a lot of glycogen. It’s very common for athletes to feel flat and/or hungry early in races because they have burned a lot of sugar pre-race than they normally would in training where we don’t have the same nerves and extended logistics.
Bring lots of snacks and water bottle(s) and drink and snack as you make your way through pre-race logistics. It’s easy to forget as there is a lot going on on race morning. Be very cognizant that you need to keep snacking to show up 100% glycogen filled at the race start.
Cold weather riding gear:
We were asked by one of our athletes to compile a list of colder weather riding gear we use and recommend. The list is quite long and well tested. We won’t go into the details here but it covers gloves, shoe overboots, socks, tights, knickers (my favorite), leg and arm warmers, jerseys, jackets and headbands. Here is the Google Doc link to the recommended products.
Precision Hydration Insta account:
This is a really helpful account for seeing brief case studies in fueling for different events. It summarizes the athlete, event and their target carbs/hydration/sodium per hour.
I have not used their products so I can’t speak to that but they have been a major player in the race/training space for a time. At the very least, you’ll learn a bunch. (And most of the information should not come as a surprise to our regular listeners.)
Main Content
Our agenda today is to convince you that a) trail running is the best and b) it’s a secret weapon to a faster half marathon, marathon and triathlon. And c) maybe get you hooked on trail running at your main jam!
Who should trail run?
Runners
Triathletes
Cyclists
Why is trail running such a secret weapon?
Organic strength, aerobic, tempo, threshold zones on nearly every run
Communing with nature, great for mental health
Super social, easy to do with a friend and people of various abilities
Exploration
How can someone get started trail running? What are the basics?
Mentally:
Just explore! It may be fast hiking at first, running only when it feels accessible to, but slowly you start running more and more.
The mental shift from hiking to trail running
Throw away any pace expectations. Maybe don’t even wear a watch the first several times
Physically:
For both uphill and downhill, short, faster strides
Agility→ look where you’re going, pick your line, trust your body
Strength & durability
Knowing when to hike vs when to run
Do you train with pace on trails, or effort/HR? What are the most useful metrics?
Pretty much all perceived effort & HR, rarely ever focused on pace
Pay attention to a mix of vert, time, and mileage for training metrics
If you are keeping track in TrainingPeaks, use hrTSS and you can also add extra (10) TSS per 1000 feet of elevation gain and drop.
How much road vs. trail running should aspiring trail runners do?
How do you improve technical skills on trails?
How to train for trail races if you live somewhere without great trail access?
Thoughts on, e.g., stairmaster, uphill treadmill, Harvard stadiums?
How should trail runners approach strength training?
Lateral movement is important! Core, side lunges, ankle stability
Squats & deadlifts always important for pure power
Weighted uphill carry (carry water uphill/mountain, dump on top if you don’t want the added eccentric load on the way down)
Favorite trail running workouts?
Longer Hill repeats→ 2/4/6/8/6/4/2 mins up
Long adventure days!
1-2 downhill stimulus workouts before big races
Sustained runnable uphill where you just focus on keeping running (can be done on road too!)
Favorite Trail Gear:
Elena: Salomon Adv Skin pack, Patagonia Houdini, Leki poles, Fenix headlamp, Patagonia gloves, On spandex pocket shorts, Coros HR armband, Nathan hand flask
Katie: Salomon 12L pack, Patagonia Houdini, Patagonia micro puff, Black Diamond Carbon poles, Leukotape, Skida headband, Craft hybrid weather gloves, Petzl Actik core headlamp, On running shorts, Distance spikes
Jim: +1 on the above. A couple additions: Bag Balm 2oz tube, Black Diamond Aluminum poles, Salomon soft flask water filter, Nathan Hipster Running Belt, Lightweight adventure medical kit
Favorite trail running areas / trails?
Elena: anywhere in UT (Wasatch Crest, Foothills, Mill Creek), Presi traverse, Vermont→ Mt. Mansfield, Lake Willoughby area. Seattle area→ Carkeek Park, Cougar Mountain. Basically I just am wherever I am, look at my trail map (Gaia GPS), and decide where I want to try exploring.
Katie: Bay Area CA (Windy Hill, Wunderlich, Russian Ridge); Boston (Fells, Blue Hills); Upper Valley (Ballard/Bragg, Blue Ribbon, Union Village Dam); Camden Hills State Park in Maine; the Whites
Jim: White Mountain Pemigewasset Wilderness area (a lot of old logging railroad beds), Powerline Pass (and peaks) & Bicentennial Park - Anchorage, AK
Favorite trail running memory:
Elena: running down Mt. Mansfield with my dad; firstt 50K
Katie: So many! Fast Prezi on a bluebird 70 degree day in March 2021 stands out, also 100 MW Express (check out Episode 10: Durability)
Jim: Discovering my trail bliss pace in the Pemi / Owl’s Head hike. Skyline to Pacific (26 mile casual trail marathon in January!),
Listener Questions (from AMA)
How do you approach training for races at altitude when living at sea level besides going to elevation? I’m interested in races like Hardrock or Highlonesome, if I ever get in the lottery!
Elena: heat training is probably the best substitute available, along with allowing yourself around a week of acclimation time if possible. If not, try to get a short but intense stimulus at altitude as soon as you get there (think 10-20 sec hill strides) to help your body adapt sooner
Katie: This is hard! There isn’t much of a substitute for altitude training other than an altitude tent which I have never used. Advice I give is: do a training camp, go out as early as you can (it can take a couple of weeks to acclimate), manage your expectations surrounding HR/pace and use a race strategy based on HR/overall pace, and any time you are at altitude, prioritize really good hydration, fueling, and sun protection.
Jim: Agreed with Katie, managing expectations is key here. For altitude races, your aerobic capacity could be reduced by 10% or more. That means your normal race pace will feel wicked hard and/or unattainable. I would frame these races in more of ‘destination / bucket list’ race than a performance race.
Challenge of the Week
Katie: Morning pages journaling exercise
Elena: 10 min sun salutation
Jim: During off season, have multiple route options on your runs/bikes as you assess how you are feeling in real time. Adjust your course based on what your body and mind are telling you.
Gear Pick of the Week
Katie: Swiftly Tech Long-Sleeve Shirt 2.0 *Waist Length - stripes are extra fun!
Elena: Gaia GPS app