Trail Running
Anywhere,
Anytime
Find your groove without pavement
By Dave McMahon
over-use injuries from repeti-
tively running on hard pave-
Prisoners of pavement! ment is much higher than
Free yourself from roads and get a injuring yourself on trails. Yes,
richer, more enduring experience. We’re people do fall in the woods, but
talking about forest trails, offering run- they only make a sound if oth-
ners an all-season, all-terrain, all-natural, ers hear them.
clean oxygen-rich experience for body anyone can run safety down-
and soul. This is a concentrated total- hill or over obstacles if you take
body workout for power, endurance, it in stages. Start slowly, on easy
agility, balance and core-strength. terrain, while maintaining good
Compared with running on city side- running form and a full stride.
walks, the variety of single track trails eventually those stones, water
– like the Ridge Road along the spine of hazards and logs will disappear
gatineau Park – can boost the dynamic beneath your feet.
range in all your five “cardiovascular as new trail runners develop
zones.” most road races are done in a skill, they drop the instinct to
high zone 3, but trail races vary from step on every obstacle. instead
zone 3 (race) to zone 5 (sprint). they ignore irrelevant hazards,
a run in the woods provides more maintain a full stride and clear
Dave McMahon on Wolf Trail.
natural intervals than a structured work- them in the air. They look way
out, with less fatigue, greater diversity ahead, not down at their feet, gravity to power your motion, absorb
and improved training effects. You can knowing that good form means you can shocks, prevent injuries – and you get to
run a different route every day and land on anything. feel the changing terrain.
never get bored. They learn to be quick and light on Warm up on the flats before a trail run.
negotiating a winding, hilly, narrow their feet, knowing you are safe in the Practise good running form and then
footpath at speed is by definition an op- air, and only have to be cautious during transfer it to more difficult terrain. For
portunity for real-time problem solving contact with the earth. They kick heels co-ordination, add skipping (without a
and mental fitness too. up, especially in mud, maintain tempo rope, while moving ahead), shuttle runs
The variety of footing, pace and stride through obstructions or changes of (change direction by lowering your cen-
in trail running will add longevity to your direction. tre of balance and rapidly turn around)
running career. ascents require quick, short strides and cross-overs (running sideways and
To a neophyte, trails may be in- while leaning forward from the hips and backwards, crossing legs in front and
timidating. Rocks, roots, mud and pumping the arms. Use the big muscles behind). and stretch after your trail run.
steep descents test the nerves, and in your hips and keep a good posture Trail running is even more amazing –
climbs challenge the heart, lungs and in the spine. For downhills, lower your and safer – when you run in a pack, so
legs. Technical trails can be a seasoned centre of gravity and stride out. envision join a club and try it. ~OO
track star’s kryptonite. where your momentum will carry you,
Dave McMahon was a national biathlon –
neophytes worry about injuries, espe- lean down the hill and run down the ski and shoot – champion and ranked third
cially twisting an ankle. They’re maybe fall-line. Pump your arms to maintain
in the world in the summer run-and-shoot
daunted by spine-tingling downhills and control and reduce foot impact.
variant of the sport. Together with two-time
Olympian Lise Meloche, he leads free trail
lung-bursting climbs, and co-ordinating On very steep hills, land on the heels
running workouts in Gatineau Park. See
a route through rocks, roots and mud and absorb the impact in the hips. Stay
www.naturalfitnesslab.com
without looking like a marionette. relaxed from ankles on up through your
But it’s my firm view that chance of legs to the upper body. This allows
www.ottawaoutdoors.ca OTTAWA magazine summer/fall 2009 11
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