TRAIL RUNNING

This book has been very carefully prepared, but no responsibility is taken for the correctness of the information it contains. Neither the author nor the publisher can assume liability for any damages or injuries resulting from information contained in this book.

Jeff Galloway

Trail Running

Meyer & Meyer Sport

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Jeff Galloway: Trail Running
Maidenhead: Meyer & Meyer Sport (UK) Ltd., 2014
ISBN 9781782550112

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including the translation rights. No part of this work may be reproduced –
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without the written permission of the publisher.

© 2014 by Meyer & Meyer Sport (UK) Ltd.
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ISBN 9781782550112
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Chapter 1: Introduction: Trail Running Got Me Hooked on Running

My first few trail runs did not bring much joy. I was 13, lazy, overweight, and in poor physical shape. Due to my father’s Navy career, I had attended 13 schools by the time I finished the 7th grade and had not been involved with team sports or regular physical training of any type. At this point my father became a teacher, we moved to Atlanta, and my new school required each boy to work out with an athletic team after school every day. This was a major jolt to my lazy lifestyle, and I didn’t like it.

During the fall I tried football, which was a total disaster from my perspective, and even more so from the view of my coaches. Before choosing a sport for the next quarter, I asked several of the other lazy kids for their choices and was surprised to hear that many had chosen Winter Cross Country Conditioning. The consensus among the slackers was that the coach was the most lenient in the school. “Tell him you are running on the trails, and you only have to jog 200 yards to the woods and hide out.”

I did just that for two days. On the third day, an older athlete I liked came over to me and said, Galloway, you‘re running with us today. I quickly came up with my strategy: As we entered the woods, I planned to grab my hamstring, claiming a muscle pull. But the jokes started right away, and I kept going to hear the punch line. As we entered the trail system, they were exchanging gossip about the teachers—and I wanted to hear all of it. I didn’t last long the first day, struggled to adjust to the surface, and walked most of the way back to the school.

The primitive satisfaction of running trails combined with honest friendships and social fun kept me coming back, day after day—but it was hard work. The biggest surprise was how good I felt after a run. The after-run attitude boost was better than I had experienced after any activity during my young life.

There was also something special about the trail experience. Every step was a challenge at first, and I suffered my share of ankle turns and stumbles. With the support of the group, I experienced a unique sense of empowerment from overcoming each challenge.

Week after week I felt my body adapt and improve. The stumbles and aches became fewer and less painful. I began to sense that my feet were making intuitive adjustments to new terrain. I was becoming a trail running animal, and I liked it.

My spirit is energized after every run—but trail running does it better. Touching the earth in a natural environment engages parts of the mind-body network that are not activated on other runs. I felt energized by every trail run during my first few weeks and looked forward to the next one.

The most wonderful aspect of being on the trails after school was the special sense of freedom that can be encountered only on a trail run. When running down the trail, stress melted away: the demanding academic program, conflicts with fellow students, pressure from teachers and parents. As I moved along through the forest and along the creek, I was the king of the trail.

While the causes of stress in my life are different over 50 years later, I enter the same type of enhanced mental restoration today. I love trails!

Chapter 2: We Are Hard-Wired to Be Trail Animals

Anthropologists who specialize in ancient man tell me that our ancestors survived because they kept extending their ability to cover long distances on foot. Walking with some running became the mode of transportation. Before our ancient relatives developed strategies for hunting and later, farming, they roved through forests and plains.

The more ground covered, the greater the chance of finding food. As our forebears pushed back the physical barriers, they developed physiological and mechanical adaptations to keep going…and going… and going.

During the period prior to one million years ago, our ancestors moved from quadruped to biped capabilities and had to solve many problems during the daily journey for food. Trail challenges stimulated brain development in the frontal lobe—the human brain.

Our mind-body organism responds to challenges: When encountering rocks, it is natural to pause, adjust the step, and make little, necessary adjustments. Running requires one to be at a high state of readiness to avoid tripping or stepping in a hole, while maintaining balance and looking ahead to the next challenge.

Scientists have noted that when we’re running, thought activity tends to be in the conscious brain, in the frontal lobe. Other animals don’t have this “executive brain” resource that allows us humans to be in the moment, to make decisions, and to plan strategically. Neuroscientists believe that during the period of time from 2 million BCE to 1 million BCE, our ancestors expanded their roaming range to find food. As they became endurance animals, they began to band together for survival, developing the human traits of cooperation, trust, and support—while expanding frontal lobe activity.

We return to our roots as we run down the trail.

Chapter 3: Benefits of Trail Running

As you move along a trail through forest, desert, or parkland, you enter a different state of mind. You’re constantly interacting with the ground, vegetation, elevation change, and a variety of sounds and aromas. Mind-body activity is elevated to a higher level of awareness to be ready to react. You’re living in the moment and interacting with life around you as you move forward.

The journey: Our ancestors programmed us to move from one point to another along the trail. Forward movement is positive and fulfilling. Intuitively, as we move forward, we can solve problems and enjoy the satisfaction of exertion in nature. There is a feeling of empowerment in finishing any run, but the sensation has almost always been better at the end of a trail workout.

Sharing: There’s a special bonding that occurs when we run with one or more companions along a trail. We’re connecting with millions of years of evolution. The extra trust and cooperation felt toward a trail running companion often extends after the run. Some runners communicate and bond better on trails—even when nothing is said. Trail companions are connected the same way our ancient relatives pulled one another along to get through tough times.

Variety: Even if you run the same trail each day, you will feel different sensations on each run. When you choose a different trail every week, you will learn to look forward to the adventure and the discovery process. Each month you can add a few new trails to your favorites. As you get to know different trail connections, you can combine your favorite loops, or out-and-backs to add the distance or time you need on any given day.

The mission: Planning the trail runs usually requires scheduling the drive to and from, assigning time in a busy schedule, coordinating with running companions, and dividing responsibility for logistics. As we work together, anticipate and then experience the trail together, the trail run becomes more than an average run.

Enjoyable scenery: I’ve run thousands of trail runs. Each has delivered a memorable series of visual images, interesting and diverse sounds, mysteries, and puzzles. Surprising are the discoveries during runs on trails that at first seem boring or not stimulating. Within a few minutes you’ll see details of ground cover, vegetation, animal prints or signs, and sounds made by the wind or vegetation. You could write several pages about the details seen and felt along every segment of just about any trail.

Strengthens legs and feet: The legs and feet have to work a bit harder on trails to maintain balance, push off on different terrain, and shift usage of muscles. All of the adaptations for adjusting to various surfaces are embedded in us. As we run regularly on non-paved surfaces, we get better and better at adjusting pace and foot placement, inserting walk breaks, and moving around hazards. You find a different sense of balance on trails. Muscles and tendons intuitively strengthen and work together in special ways during different segments of each trail. You’ll notice small muscles not usually defined on road runners are much more defined on the legs of trail runners.

Part of nature: As you move through the trees, plants, hills, grass, and sand, you become part of nature, picking up bits of the forest, field, valley, or prairie. You’re literally grounded as you touch earth on each step. You feel the moisture (or lack of) and collect the dust, mist, snow, and frost on you.

Preparation for off-road races: A growing number of races offer off-road races or segments. As you train on trails that simulate your racecourse, you adapt the feet, legs, and balance for the exact demands of the race itself. Many who run trail events will schedule trips to train on the course in advance and reduce the surprises on race day. The best preparation for running on a trail is to train on that trail.

View scenery in a unique way: Due to the light, foliage, and recent precipitation, the scenery changes from one a trail run to any other. Many carry cameras or camera-phones and capture images that are revisited over and over (and often become screen savers), but most of the images are stored away in memory alone. Every week, during a run, a certain image, shadow, or cloud formation will bring flashes of my rich memories in the Sierra Mountains, through Arizona desert preserves, or a Florida longleaf-pine forest. Some were experienced last week but others decades ago—a wonderful and direct connection with our running past.

Brain invigoration: The brain instinctively revs up when you start running on a trail, turning on “circuits” for high awareness. Starting in ancient times, running directly on the earth required more resources throughout the mind-body network. The central nervous system is on high alert, reflexes are ready, and the energy circuit gears up to conserve and deliver as needed. Muscles are activated, performance hormones are released, and mechanical units flow into a smooth range of motion. I know of no other activity that activates our vitality and expectations than trail running.

The result is that I feel more alive and energized when running down a trail: body, mind, and spirit working together. But I’m not alone. Runners tell me every week that they come away from a trail run more energized and motivated than when running on other surfaces.

Chapter 4: Glossary of Trail Terms

Note: Thanks to Kerry Dycus, Chris Twiggs, and Dave James for their input on these issues.

Double track: A two-lane trail such as one made by an ATV or truck. Running side-by-side is possible, passing is easy, and two-way traffic is not a problem. Keep right; pass on the left.

Out-and-back: Running along a trail in one direction for a certain distance, then running back to the start.

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

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Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

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Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

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Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

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