O hit the trail
TRACK ATTACK: Getting away from roads and into the countryside is a great way to build strength and technique sharing adventures builds a real camaraderie between fellow runners. Running releases endorphins, the chemicals that the body uses to help reduce pain and relieve anxiety. They can also give you a huge sense of satisfaction, often known as the “runner’s high”.
When you mix this with the beauty of nature and the sense of freedom you experience, the positive effects on mental wellbeing can be huge. Hills can be a runner’s best friend and there are a lot of them out on the trails. They can improve your posture and speed. Running uphill forces you to lift your knees higher and at a faster rate in order to maintain speed.
This in turn enables you to run faster when running on the flat. Because you are making your body produce a higher force to propel you up the hill, your leg strength will increase too. When you run on roads, your foot strikes the Tarmac in the same way over and over again. But the very nature of uneven ground means that your joints and tendons are actually strengthened when trail running.
The undulating and uneven nature of this kind of running can be fantastic for your awareness of individual muscles and ankle stability. You constantly have to adapt to the terrain with each step, which helps to strengthen muscles and ligaments in your ankles.
This means you’ll have a lower chance of rolling your ankle if you land at a bad angle and you’ll lose less energy through ankle movement when you get back on the road.
Tom Marshall and Ieuan Thomas are Saucony UK athletes. Both have broken the four-minute-mile barrier and have competed for Great Britain. Both will represent Wales at the Commonwealth Games in April.
fit kit for GoiNG off-roAD