Run fast on any surface by improving your economy

​How spending less time on the trail made me a better trail runner:

Many people ask me how they can get faster on the trails. When I tell them to get on the track or the road every now and then, they look at me like I'm crazy. I used to think it was crazy too!

When I first started trail running, I was salivating over the idea of less structure in my training . I thought the rigors and oddly ritualistic repetition required of competitive road racing would take a back seat and I would spend my hours running around in the forest, up mountains and through canyons without a care in the world. After a few weeks I realized that structure was a necessity. In fact, structure was a means for improvement, not a prison sentence.

I thought that just running on the trails would be enough. I thought things would naturally flow and fall into place. I thought if I ran more, I'd get faster. At a basic level it's true - the more you run, the faster you get. Trail running and ultrarunning has largely been this way for years. Times are different for trail and ultrarunning now. More elite runners are entering immediately following college and others are making the transition in their prime and that makes it  dramatically different from years past. There's just way more speed in the sport. As money continues to flow into it, you can bet it will get even faster, too.

You need to have experience running on trails to some degree but running economy, lactate threshold and VO2max play such an important role in speed development it wouldn’t be wise to neglect them. It's evident that the faster runners are the best runners regardless of the surface that the race is on. Yes, there are exceptions, but in general speed is king.

Adding Speed work, pick-ups, turnovers and strides and barefoot strides to my arsenal has vastly improved my running economy and my speed. Prior to adding those elements, my usual training would consist of obnoxiously slow easy runs, a half-assed speed or vo2 max session and a long run. My paces would change rarely, if ever. I underestimated the benefits of an improved running form, improved speed and overall economy.

Adding these elements made me faster on the road and trail:

Pick-ups:

• Periods of faster-paced running injected into an existing easy run. For example, I typically have pickups prescribed every Tuesday and Friday in my 8-10 mile runs. I’ll usually do 4-6 x 30 seconds of pickups with at least two minutes of easy running before the next one starts. The practice of doing this essentially forces your body to adapt to the physiological demands of running faster, without being long enough to build lactic acid or develop heavy legs for the next day. I aim for 1 mile to-5k estimated race  pace by feel to really get my legs turning over.

Strides:

• I typically do strides after certain easy runs, or following a warm-up before the race starts. Strides should be relaxed periods of running fast, almost to the point of building up to a sprint. Start slow and build into full speed over the course of the first five seconds, maintain the speed while staying relaxed for a few seconds and slowly let off the gas until you slow down completely. Take full time to recover between strides. As a bonus - I sometimes do these barefoot on turf or grass to also help with improve my foot strike and other bio mechanics. Be sure to inspect the grass or turf and watch out for sharp objects.

Lactate Threshold Workouts

• This is an oversimplification, but the purpose of lactate threshold training is to improve your body’s ability to clear lactate so you can run longer and faster before you reach that threshold. Tempo runs are probably the most famous of these workouts. During certain periods of my race preparation, I’ll use these workouts strategically to be able to run faster for longer periods of time on race day.

VO2Max Training:

• VO2max is a measure of the maximum rate at which an athlete's body is able to consume oxygen when performing a specific activity, in this case running, adjusted for body weight. VO2max is partially determined by your genetics, and partially developed as a result of your training. Hill repeats and certain types of interval training fall into this category. Minute for minute, VO2max training boosts aerobic fitness greater than any other type of training, but also carries with it the highest potential for fatigue or injury.

Using the above training components has dramatically improved my fitness on the roads and trails alike. The structure has improved my training, my resistance to injury and has helped me be more confident when I arrive at the starting line. A typical week for me looks like this: (This is just a sample, my training varies weekly)

MONDAY
8 miles EZ
6:40 -7:00/
Pace
PM - Gym

TUESDAY
10 miles w/ Pick ups

WEDNESDAY
10 miles w/
VO2max or LT workout

PM - 5 miles easy

THURSDAY
7 miles
Recovery
PM - Gym

FRIDAY
8 miles easy w/
pickups

SATURDAY
Long Run
15 Miles

SUNDAY
7 miles
Recovery
PM -Gym

---