Dirt or asphalt? Technical trails or flat roads? Either method of jumbled or precise steps, running is running, right? Wrong.
Trails are ruthless, but gorgeous, like the unforgettable date you had in Greece that left you feeling full, yet depleted, confused, but anxious, and chasing every day since.
Roads are dependable. Whether smooth, cracked, or strewn with debris, roads are stagnant, whereas trails have a heartbeat. However, roads possess the “come hither” allure to prove our mettle allowing running at high speeds on its solid surface. Meanwhile, trails trick those that tromp over them quickly by lassoing ankles on outcropped roots, or catching toes on rebellious sharp rocks, constantly shape-shifting the ground underfoot. Roads are appreciatingly honest and dependable, whereas trails are the life at the party that is either laughing with us or at us.
I believe both methods are challenging, fun, and mutually beneficial to combine in a training cycle leading up to a road or trail event. I love both. But I do believe running on trails is harder than running on roads.
Novice trail runner.
I have included at least one day on the trails each week of my Boston build, a humbling and joyous highlight because of their equally soul-crushing and soul-satisfying sensory experiences. Trails provide enlightenment and strength-training, a stellar combination to break up the static of monotonous miles spent on running regular road routes.
However, it is fruitful to compare the two.
I spent approximately two hours running on mixed terrain of trails and hilly roads last Friday and covered eight miles and then spent approximately two hours running on mixed elevated roads (ups and downs) on Sunday and covered fifteen miles.
Friday Trail run stats.
Sunday Long run stats.
The effort was relaxed, yet steady for both workouts, providing both quantity and quality doses of time on feet. Clearly, the trails lack efficiency in distance covered, but they make up for it in personality, and by producing leg-boosting propulsion to enhance weekly long road romps that this marathoner leans as a measuring stick of fitness, proving the case to embrace dirt and asphalt.
Post first “brick” workout in over 18 months last Saturday in Malibu, 50-mile bike + 4-mile progression run.
No matter what the surface, every step taken is valuable when the goal is simply to keep on movin’ forward.
The book I read this week was my favorite (so far) in Brad Stulberg’s canon of work, “The Way Of Excellence”. The book is about what excellence means, and how to live it, rather than live in the pursuit of it.