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This is the fifth and final blog in our miniseries ‘Hitting the Trails’. In what follows, I will argue why even as a trail runner, you should maintain a variety of training types such as long runs, intervals, or tempo runs. The temptation to go long and slow is strong, but that’s not always the best choice.
1. Why Variety is Good and Necessary
Your body seeks homeostasis. You give it a stimulus, it gets out of balance, and then adapts to handle that same stimulus more easily next time. This principle underpins various training concepts, particularly the principles of overload and variation. By giving the right stimulus at the right times, your fitness improves. This process is known as ‘periodization’ in training science.
1.1 Overload
The overload principle means applying progressively higher stimuli to continue improving. The overall volume and distribution of volume and intensity are adjusted based on your age and experience to keep making progress. This principle is closely linked to the concept of diminished returns: everyone has a limit. This limit could be performance-related (you can’t get any faster) or injury-related.
1.2 Variation
Adaptation and repetition are also beneficial. You shouldn’t always throw your body out of balance. The more you repeat something, the better you get at it. But if you only repeat one type of training, such as long trail runs, you won’t become a better trail runner. That’s why you are presented with (somewhat) different types of training sessions.
2. The Goal Justifies the Means: Trail Runners Should Also Do Intervals
As a coach, I aim to improve your aerobic (or anaerobic) fitness in various ways. I focus on capacity (increasing fitness) and power (using fitness efficiently). For trail runners, aerobic capacity is crucial because you spend a long time running (and relatively slowly). Your aerobic fitness is the key parameter to gauge your endurance. Here, we use a mix of fats and carbohydrates as energy sources (with fats > carbohydrates). In this zone, you don’t accumulate lactic acid because it’s low-intensity.
The typical training to improve aerobic capacity is the long run—a longer, continuous effort. Reflecting on point 1, it’s not useful to always use the long run as the training to improve your aerobic capacity. Your body will think ‘I know this already,’ and won’t adapt further. This monotony in load can also cause injuries.
My job and responsibility are to improve your aerobic capacity in other ways. This can also be done through interval training, both at high and moderate intensity. Slow intervals around your aerobic threshold are just a bit faster than your long run pace and improve your aerobic fitness. Training around your anaerobic threshold also does this. It may sound strange, but the logic is simple: if you can push the anaerobic threshold to the right (higher), you create more room for your aerobic fitness. The rest intervals determine whether such training is aerobic or anaerobic.
My toolbox for improving aerobic capacity, one aspect of your running fitness, is extensive. Trail runners are often a bit more stubborn and, rightly so, find performance secondary. ‘I don’t need all those trainings,’ I often hear. Unjustly. I hope this example demonstrates why varied training is beneficial, even for trail runners.
3. Specific Training Doesn’t Have to Be Boring
Long runs don’t have to be on the road, and intervals don’t have to be on the track. Specific training doesn’t have to be boring (at least, that’s how trail runners often see it). You do need to adapt these trainings, of course. My paces in the Alps are slower than here in Haspengouw. Almost every training can be adjusted to be done in a less typical location. Do you live in a flat area and want to gain elevation? Check out our blog on hill training.
You do need a system that can account for this. Fortunately, this is possible with Trenara and our ‘Training Conditions’ option. Never go ‘blind’ again!
4. Conclusion
That’s it for our trail running miniseries! I hope you’ve learned something! I’d like to link the previous parts again:
Do you still have questions? Shoot! We are quickly reachable via our social media channels.
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