Run to Win

In a continuing collaboration with Scott over at Straight to the Bar, we will be writing about taking advantage of your location for the month of December. This week, I will explain why you should take advantage of your local trail system.

This past Summer I wrote about the Trail Running 101 presentation put on by a couple of the local ultramarathoners. I recommend re-reading that article for specific tips about how to run trails and why you should.

There are two major reasons that I run trails that I would like to focus on today. The first is the lack of traffic, and the second is the strength and injury resistance that running trails can build.

Major Advantage 1: The Lack of Traffic

If you are anything like myself, then most of your miles are on the roads. Running on the roads means that you have to deal with traffic. Running on the trails means that you get to avoid the majority of that traffic.

A lack of traffic means that the air is probably going to be cleaner. It means that your run is going to be quieter. And most importantly, it means that your body is not going to get rammed into by a hunk of metal that is 20 times more massive.

Running on the trails does not mean that there will be no traffic. In the Summer, your local trails may have other runners, mountain bicyclists, and dirt bikes on them. In the Winter, you’ll see snowmobilers and skiers and snowshoers on the trails. All year round you will find animals on your trails. Most trails will still be far less trafficked than most of the routes you could run on the roads, and the majority of that traffic is far less obnoxious.

Major Advantage 2: Building Strength

Running on the trails involves far less repetitive motion and impact on your legs. Because you are constantly placing your foot differently with each step on most of the trails that you will find, you are not going to develop overuse injuries as swiftly as you would on the roads.

When you are running on a well maintained road, you can easily zone out and settle into a nice stride where each step is indistinguishable from the last step or the next step. On the trails, you need to avoid (or find) the rocks, keep yourself from stepping in holes or tripping on branches. Turns can come much more frequently than on the roads.

Every step that you take involves the buildup of kinetic energy. When your foot lands, that energy is either absorbed by the surface you are running on or it is returned through your legs upon impact with the surface. In reality, a percentage is always absorbed and always returned. When you run on asphalt, more kinetic energy is going to be returned through your legs, which helps you take the next step with that leg. It also increases the impact on that leg.

Running on grass or dirt causes more of that kinetic energy to be absorbed by the ground. You need to work harder to take each step on grass than on asphalt, and there is less impact. This means that you will be less prone to injury, and it also means that you will build up more strength.

Running through snow covered trails is even more work. A Winter spent running trails through snow can leave you with strong, injury resistant muscles come Spring. It is a great way to build your aerobic base.

Run Trails Today
Whether your trails are covered in snow or not, you should take the opportunity to run on your local trails on a regular basis. I try to run at least once or twice per week on the trails, sometimes more. Look for a local trail running club in your area to learn your way around.

Build up a good aerobic base, build up good lower body strength, become more resistant to injury, and have some fun.

In a continuing collaboration with Scott over at Straight to the Bar, we will be writing about taking advantage of your location for the month of December. This week, Scott discusses the advantages of having a home gym.

I have some equipment in my home, but I rarely use it. I usually just go to a commercial gym to get my weight workouts in. There are definitely some advantages to working out at home, as Scott mentions. Your home equipment is always available, you don’t have to wait for equipment, you can do whatever sort of workout you want, and you don’t have to listen to bad music.

For the other side of the coin, I wrote about working out at a commercial gym last December.

In a continuing collaboration with Scott over at Straight to the Bar, we will be writing about taking advantage of your location for the month of December. This week, I’ll answer some common questions about running over the surface of a local lake.

First, the warnings. Before you go out on the surface of a lake, make sure that the ice is more than thick enough to support your weight. Breaking through the ice is an easy way to lose some toes if not your life.

Photo by ezioman
If you don’t know a lake, then it would be in your best interest to get some advice from someone that has spent some time on the lake during the winter. That could be a fellow runner, but if there aren’t any other hardy souls out there then you can ask the ice fisherman that you are bound to pass. They’ll be able to tell you where the inlets are or if there are areas where there is already some melt going on and you will be in danger of breaking through.

Why should you run on a frozen lake?

Your first question that you may want to ask yourself is why are you out there in the first place. There are a few advantages to being on the ice.

• There is no traffic. First, there is no traffic other than the occasional fisherman, a random pickup truck, and snowmobiles. Wear dark clothing during the day and you should stand out just fine so that they can avoid you. On a road, a car does not have very far that it can go to avoid hitting you, and there are far more distractions making it easy for a driver to not even see you. If the car slips on the ice, it will probably be a lot closer to you than it would be on the lake.
• It’s a tough workout. Running on ice is not the easiest surface, although if there is a good layer of snow packed down by snowmobiles it will be a lot easier. You will still have to contend with the wind, and lakes rarely have anything to block its access to you. Its like built-in speed work!
• There are no hills. Sometimes you just don’t want to go up or down. It is very difficult to find a completely level surface on which to run, but 90% (or more) of the frozen lakes that you find will be.
• Nothing can fall on you. If you are in a wide open space, then there is little chance that something is going to fall on you and injure you when you are out running.
• It is a lot of fun. The most important reason is that you can get hooked on lake running. It can be a lot of fun to be running on a completely flat, unbroken terrain. It is also interesting to run by people sitting around a hole waiting for their fish trap to spring, freezing themselves silly, while you are going by with short sleeves or even no shirt at all.

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In a continuing collaboration with Scott over at Straight to the Bar, we will be writing about taking advantage of your location for the month of December.

Scott begins this month’s series by describing some ways to make use of outdoor space, specifically your yard. A couple of years ago he moved from Glasgow to Sydney, which afforded him an opportunity to begin working out outside.

He offers quite a few different strength exercises that you can work on in your yard, such as using Kettlebells, sand bags, or carrying stones and anvils. He offers a few ways to improve your yard for exercise by building a sandpit, making use of a rope, or installing playground equipment.

Another option for staying fit in your yard is to just do some yard work. Most activities that you engage in when caring for your lawn will have some measure of fitness benefit to it.

Over the next few months, Scott is planning on starting some kettlebell training in the swimming pool. My chief exercise in my yard over the next few months is going to be shoveling snow. I’ll leave the water behind the house for the ducks.

Be sure to read Scott’s full article over at Straight to the Bar.

In a collaborative effort with Scott over at Straight to the Bar, we wrote about workout locations for the month of December.

One thing that can often derail an exercise regimen is figuring out how to keep in shape while you are on vacation. There are a few different ways to tackle vacations and how they effect your workouts.

1. You can not work out at all and just concentrate on the vacation.
2. You can find a way to stay on the same workout schedule as you are currently engaged in.
3. You can find alternative workouts that fit your vacation schedule but will keep you conditioned.
4. You can plan your vacations completely around your workouts.

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In a collaborative effort with Scott over at Straight to the Bar, we will be writing about workout locations for the month of December. You can expect a new article on the matter every week.

This week, Scott discusses working out at the park. He points out the benefit of having a wide open space and having spectators to encourage you. He discusses some specific exercises that you can do and links to videos with more ideas of how to spend your day working out in the park.

I would like to add that working out at the park can also be something that is geared more towards play than towards a full out workout. Bring some juggling balls or clubs, play some soccer or basketball, bring a baseball and a bat. Get some barefoot striders in. When I go to the park, I may or may not get a good workout, but I always have fun.

In a collaborative effort with Scott over at Straight to the Bar, we will be writing about workout locations for the month of December. You can expect a new article on the matter every week.

This week I would like to discuss working out a commercial gym. There are basically 3 reasons why you would want to work out at a commercial gym rather than at home:

1. Equipment
2. Training
3. Motivation

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In a collaborative effort with Scott over at Straight to the Bar, we will be writing about workout locations for the month of December. You can expect a new article on the matter every week.

Scott starts us off by discussing how best to use the beach for your workouts. Some of the suitable types of workouts that he discusses are:

1. Hill sprints on dunes
2. Kettlebell training
3. Team sports and activites
4. Medicine ball workout
5. Yoga

Scott is on the other side of the planet from me, where it is now the Summer. December in Maine is not usually the best time to spend at the beach, so I probably will wait to act on his advice for at least a few months. The lakes have not frozen yet, but when they do I will begin my runs on the beaches and head out for some ice workouts. Frozen lakes and ponds can make for a great running workout, especially on a windy day. Just be sure to dress appropriately.

He does include some great ideas, a few of which I have done myself and a few of which I will look into doing in the future. When I was in college, we used to do a 15 mile run on Daytona Beach during Spring training every year. I have such fond memories of those runs that I wrote about it in June of 2005 and in July of 2006.