Workout Wednesday: Off-road trail repeats

The hot summer season is an ideal time to get off the roads and take to the trails. Trail running can improve your strength and agility, decrease your risk of injury (really!) and mentally provide a stimulating, sensory escape from the roads.

As such, trails are also a great place to challenge yourself to a workout type effort. Unlike running and racing on the roads where distance and pace often take precedent, trail running is more about moderating your effort and running “by feel.”

Depending on the profile of the trail, your speed/pace will likely vary and change quite a bit which is why it’s more valuable to try and keep your level of exertion/effort constant and controlled.

For the “workout,” find a section of trail, preferably a loop, and familiarize yourself with it by running relatively easy. It can be as short as a few hundred metres or several kilometres. After awhile and once you feel comfortable running that section of trail, time yourself to see roughly how long it takes to do it easy. Then, when you feel ready, challenge yourself by aiming to run the same section a bit faster. It will obviously feel harder but you should still aim to run controlled.

Repeat the exercise a few times over the course of a few weeks or months and pay particular attention to your time and level of exertion. Over time, the level of effort to complete the section or loop should begin to feel easier and more comfortable in which case you know you’re improving.