School me on trail running.

I jumped into trail running last year. It is a blast. It is slower, (generally)hillier, and if you dont pay attention, you can hurt yourself. It is great for speed work as the terrain will force you to vary your speeds throughout your run. It will help with balance and core strength as the terrain is uneven.

As for pace, I run between a 1:30-1:35 half marathon. I generally run the WYCO 10 mile loop in 1:45-1:50. LAst year at Psycho Wyco in the powdery snow I ran it in ~2:20.

Here is the garmin file. As you can see, I was spent at the end. I have never run in snow like that before, and I havent hurt after a race like that either.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/446469537


The Trail Nerds facebook page is always setting up trail runs. Great group to go out with, especially your first few times so you can learn the trails. Pete, Mark, and I have discussed getting together over the holidays to do some trail running during the week. I can post it on here if anyone is interested in joining in.

Edited by joncolby 2014-12-05 10:31 AM

Yes, over the holidays I plan on getting on the trails- join us!

Every Saturday, a group of trail nerds does a few loops around the Wyandotte County park. 10 miles, first group leaves at 7:00am and finishes in 1:40. That is hammering that terrain. Second loop starts at 9, and is a much slower pace, around 1:55-whenever. The guy that leads it will run with the slowest person to make sure they find the trail heads. Each loop is 10 miles (many people do both, they are monsters...) and each loop has 2000 feet of elevation gain....

I'd recommend showing up if you are interested, especially there. Its a hell of a lot of fun, and good honest work. But the trail can be difficult to find if you've never been.

I try to go every saturday. The 7:00am group about killed me keeping up with them, but it was a blast. The second lap is much more mellow, walking a good amount of up hills.

If you are interested in starting trails on your own, check out Shawnee Mission park. Their trails are pretty solid and easy to navigate. Just make sure you get out to Red. It's awesome.

I was thinking of jumping into the trail nerds 10M chili run yesterday, but it didn't work for my schedule. Maybe I'll try another time. I have a couple of days off during the next couple of weeks so I'd be interested in checking out a trail run if it works with the schedule.

Sounds fun, however I am naturally clumsy, and tend to find ways to hurt myself so it could be a bad move.

Let me know, I'm trying to go as often as I can. It's been good for building leg strength and increasing my cadence. From a fitness standpoint, I think the 10 mile loop out there is equivalent to running 13-14 on the road. You will walk some segments for sure, I've never ran the entire loop. I'd also recommend going with a group in case you get hurt. I doubt it will happen, but it's always nice to have a plan because it is possible on trail.

I haven't done any of the organized trail runs, but go out occasionally at SMP to run on their trails. I hate running, but trail running is fun.