Favorite Workout: Early Season Trail Workouts

by GRP Run athlete Nigel Bates

As higher elevation trails across New England finally melt and dry out, it’s time for many trail runners to leave the roads behind and dive headfirst into trail-specific training. Sometimes the best way to reintroduce trail technique is to simply get out on a trail, letting the grade and footing shape the workout. But if you’re looking for more structure in your early season trail workouts, here are a few of my favorites:

Grade Changes

This workout requires a hill with varying grades, ideally anywhere between 10 and 30 percent. You can do multiple repeats of a shorter hill or get in a longer continuous effort if the hill is big enough. The goal is to practice efficiently transitioning between running and power hiking. Often we start hiking on a particularly steep section, only to keep hiking when the grade eases a bit and the trail is runnable again! Everyone’s optimal “tipping point” between running and hiking is a little different, and this workout can help you find what works best for you.

Short Intervals

Many interval workouts, while designed for the roads, also work well on the trails. Fixed intervals are a good way to dial in an appropriate effort level on different types of terrain, rather than falling into the natural pattern on pushing hard on climbs and relaxing on descents. Since pace can vary wildly, you’ll want to base each interval on time rather than distance. Some of my go-to interval workouts are 8-12 by 3 minutes with 90 second recovery jogs, or a ladder of 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 with half time recovery.

Downhill “Striders”

Efficient downhill running on steep, technical terrain can feel intimidating at the beginning of the season. One good way to reacquaint yourself with this stimulus is to practice it in quick bursts of 15-30 seconds. Lean forward and focus on fast feet to prevent excessive overstriding and braking.