Trail Thoughts

On Sunday, I run a 30k trail race. Here are a few of the thoughts that popped in my head during the first lap of the run. During the start of every race, everyone is packed together and figuring out their own pace. As I try to stay calm during these crowed starts, my mind always wanders to these things that I’m happy to know now.

Run your own pace.

When the first climb appeared, less than half a mile in, all the runners in front of me “ran,” up it. From experience, I know that early in the race, I should just hike up this hill. Which I did, and so did the conga line of people behind me. I felt like I should run, because that’s what the people in front of me were doing.. Don’t just do what the person in front of you is, run your own race.

No feet slapping.

In long races, running hard and fast downhills can really beat up your legs. If you want to run a fast race, there’s no avoiding it, but if you’re after sustainability, don’t let your feet slam on your way down the mountain. Instead, control your descent, using momentum, but feel slapping and making a lot of noise on the way down is going to tire your legs out faster.

Trail Shoes.

Don’t wear your road running shoes on the trail. Even if it isn’t a technical trail, with lots of rocks and roots and mud, having better traction on the ups and down is a necessity.

Aid Stations are Time Sucks

This course had an aid station every couple of miles. It would have been easy to not carry anything with me, but I decided to carry a water bottle in my hand. This way, I could drink between aid stations, especially important because of how hot it was. Primarily, I didn’t want to have to stop, chug water, refill, throw a cup away every time an aid station came across. If my bottle still had fluid in it, I just kept on running straight through the aid station, leaving a lot of people who had to hang out there behind.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain