Trail running is a way of understanding the world of running, so fashionable in recent times, in a completely different way. It is designed for those who love the mountains, who want to enjoy a much more natural experience.
If you are used to running around the city or in the gym and you are thinking about taking the leap, follow these suggestions that may come in handy. The first of them is that you acquire the necessary equipment for this, starting with shoes: running shoes will not work for you, in fact, you could be running the risk of injuring yourself if you decide to use them.
10 tips to get started in mountain running
1. Talk to an expert
It could be a very good starting point, since he will be able to examine your initial physical condition and advise you on how to start with this new modality, what training you can do, what muscles you are interested in strengthening the most, etc.
2. Do a prior reconnaissance of the area
It is advisable that you take a special look at the area through which you are going to run, because during the development of the activity you may encounter obstacles that do not exist in urban running: there may be trails that take you to a place with no exit, others that take you away from the nearest town and you don't know where to continue on your return, etc.
3. Perform adequate training
Remember that you will be entering terrain that you are not used to, so try to first do outings in which your legs get used to leaving the monotony of the eternal flat ground. Also take the opportunity to go to the gym to work on muscle tone. It is also recommended that you gradually do training on different slopes with different repetitions.
4. Be attentive to changes in slope
Of course, in the mountains you will have more unevenness than in the city, going beyond a simple slope that sometimes seems endless. There will be continuous ups and downs, but I advise you to Everything at first go little by little: try to train in more or less flat places and gradually begin to include sessions in which there is a more considerable unevenness.
5. Combine asphalt with mountains
It will help you, above all, at a cariovascular level. Plus you can't always count on a mountain nearby to go running, so it's a good way to get rid of the itch.
6. Anticipate possible setbacks
It is important that you pay attention to the path at all times, since you may encounter logs, rocks or any other obstacle. If you are clueless you can get quite scared.
7. You don't want to keep the same rhythm all the time
Unlike asphalt and as I mentioned above, here we have the handicap of unevenness. Therefore, try to go at a pace that suits it, that is, go faster on flat terrain and try to slow down when you are in the middle of ascending or descending the mountain.
8. Change the way you run
You will get used to aspects such as taking the shorter stride, running more depending on how you feel and not on established times or distances (the duration will depend on the difficulty of the terrain), controlling your progress on the downhills , support your hands on some very steep climbs...
9. Get the necessary train running material
First of all and as I said at the beginning of this article, the most important thing is the shoes and don't mind spending more than you planned on them. Don't forget to wear waterproof clothing since in the mountains you never know how the weather will vary. If you go in winter, do not hesitate to bring thermal material.
10. Additional Tips
- The most advisable thing is that never go running in the mountains alone, first because it is more fun to share your hobby and second because it is much safer to be with someone in the event of any setback that may occur.
- Don't forget to carry a well-charged cell phone, with which you can call and if it has GPS, even better. Better safe than sorry!
- For long workouts of more than an hour and a half carry an energy gel and a small backpack with water and salts minerals.
