Trail Running Tips for Your First Trail Race

In July I’ll be trying something completely new to me: I’ll be running my first half marathon trail race.

Because I’ve never run a trail rae before,  I asked around for advice on some trail running tips so that I can get the most enjoyment out of the my first trail race.

I’ve always wanted to run a trail race.  My friend Emma ran with a team for a 50k trail race relay last year and I really loved her recap of it.  It made me even more excited to try one myself.  The mud, the hills, and the obstacles like rocks and tree roots are sure to beat the monotony of any road race!  Besides, I love a good challenge:  I’ve done road races of all kinds of distances, triathlons both short and mid-distance, and even an overnight relay… so what’s next???  A trail race of course!!!

Trail Running Tips for Your First Trail Race

When I asked around, these were the 16 trail running tips that were shared with me:

Trail Running Tips From Abby:

• Modify and Adjust your goals.
• I do one trail half here that has me running over roots and tree limbs – my goal goes from time based to:
  1. Have fun
  2. Don’t fall and hurt yourself (easier said than done)

Trail Running Tips From Liana:

• I’m not sure what your course is like, I know the NY north face was a tough one but train for similar trail conditions whether your trail is technical or just high elevation
• And remember the hilliest road race is considered flat in trail terms, so don’t skimp on hills
• Don’t be afraid to get muddy and dirty, it’s part of the fun.
• And don’t worry about pace, depending on the trail your pace can be twice as slow or more as road pace

Trail Running Tips From Betsy:

• Definitely train on trails if you have some near you. Very different from road racing!

Trail Running Tips From Heather:

• Ok this isn’t necessarily a trail running tip, but I did the North Face Challenge a couple years ago and my biggest challenge was not appropriately hydrating for an afternoon race in hot weather- I’m so used to early am races! Just thought I’d toss that out there.

Trail Running Tips From Axel:

• Train hills (up and down), and getting used to running without music. Here’s a trail run race recap: http://ironrogue.blogspot.ca/2013/09/a-september-of-family-races-part-twofer.html

Trail Running Tips From Lisa:

• I ran NFEC 50K in Washington DC in 2012- I have the recap: here.  My advice would be to run part the course during your  training, and that trail races are very relaxed, so walk when you need to and take some time at each aid station to eat and hydrate.
• Make sure you have plenty of Aquaphor or Vaseline- you will chafe.
• During your training, concentrate not so much on miles but rather time on your legs- depending on what distance you’re doing, you will be out there, and on your legs for the better part of the day.
• You will be so grateful if you do plenty of strength training before this race.
• If it’s hot, you will need salt tablets or Nuun.

Trail Running Tips From Morgan:

• Hills are better with friends 🙂

And finally Trail Running Tips from Heather G:

• Tips for Trail Running at Night

Training for this will be really fun! My conditioning coach will have to help me with unique strength exercises to help me build the power I need for the hills, and I’ll need to do a bunch of my long runs on the trails near my house.  I’m excited that this will break up my training between the half marathon in May and starting my training for the full marathon in the fall. Long training runs on the roads for weeks on end can sure get boring.  The long trail runs will give me the much needed mental break while the challenge of trail running will give me the motivation me to keep building my running endurance for the fall marathon season.  I’m so excited about this, I’ve never ran a trail race before, nevermind a half marathon on a trail!

I’m really looking forward to this new challenge, and as it was mentioned in the tips above, hills, mud and trail running are much better with friends.

Now it’s your turn…

• Have you ever done a trail race?  
• Trail runners: Do you have any other advice or tips to share with this trail running newbie?
• Will you be joining me at The North Face Endurance Challenge?

Additional blog posts about The North Face Endurance Challenge:

• North Face Endurance Challenge Relay by Heather
• Embarking on a Crazy New Challenge by Angela
• North Face Endurance Challenge 50k Recap by Lisa