Lounge Room to 5km: Uncomplicated tips to get you started on the trails
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Welcome to Kirra Rankin’s new trail running series for beginners called Lounge Room to 5km – a flow-on series from her Lounge Room workout series. Because movement at any pace wins.
Overall, when it comes to trail running events, female participation has grown from 13 percent in 1997 to 46 percent in 2022 *. But if we’re going to keep you on the trails, you need to stay injury-free. If you missed Part One last week, here’s the link, where we delve into some hacks to keep the niggles away and how to enjoy the process.
Welcome to Part Two – here are five uncomplicated tips to get you started on the trails.
Consistency
During this series, I am going to focus on the importance of progressive overload and consistency.
Consistency is the powerhouse hack for not only functional improvement but also personal enjoyment. As a trail running beginner, progressive overload is the key to consistency. In simple terms: you want to increase the time, resistance, or intensity by 10 percent (or less) each week. Personally, I think “or” is the important factor. This method allows for gradual adaptation and minimises the risk of injury.
Let’s keep it simple. For example – you start week one with a 500m jog, and 500m walk. The following week you would do a 550m jog, and 450m walk. You don’t want to add both distance and intensity at once. That is, you’re still doing 1km total, but with a little added intensity. You are new to the sport. Be patient.
I always suggest for you to seek a program from an exercise professional or running coach. Who’s your favourite running coach in Canberra?
Hip Mobility
Do you schedule specific conditioning for your hips? Ladies – our hip strength and mobility are imperative for staying injury free. Here’s a beginners hip mobility program I like to follow (Print the PDF here).
Specific Trail Footwear
One of the most important pieces of equipment to keep you safe and improve your performance on the trails is a well fitted pair of trail shoes. I’ve been running all my life and have never owned specific trail running shoes – till now. Recently, I bought a pair of Hoka’s from the Athletes Foot, and my foot strike technique and lower limb recovery has noticeably improved. I’m much more stable, which helps my body recover and prevents falls. I spoke to Bree from The Athletes Foot in Belconnen, and here’s her take on the importance of the correct trail footwear:
“Trail running is kinder on the body and is a nice change from monotonous road running. Trail shoes assist in many ways to protect the body and enhance performance by creating a run with reduced chances of trips and falls – and trust me, from experience trips on the trails are not fun!”
“Trail shoes will come in width options and some also offer a waterproof upper making them all weather appropriate. Trail shoes are designed with a specialised outsole to offer more grip and traction for running and walking on rugged terrain. The lugs on the outsole are designed and positioned to assist with both going uphill and downhill. There are many internal and external features of the shoe that are designed to protect the foot from impact from rocks and tree roots. Rock shields can help assist in preventing bruising from rocks but also provide more stability in the shoe for uneven surfaces.”
“There are options that are classified as ATR (all-terrain) that you can use more broadly for both your road and trail running therefore helping to reduce the initial cost for shoes with one pair being suitable for both surfaces”.
Thanks Kree.
I’d suggest seeing one of the friendly Fit Technicians to find the most suited trail shoes to your needs and fitting requirements. The Athletes Foot Belconnen stock many of the leading brands in trail shoes including Asics, Brooks, Topo, Hoka, New Balance and Merrell.
Self-Massage
Let’s have a chat to a trail running recovery expert on self-massage techniques you can do at home.
I see Jess from Myogen regularly for pre-habilitation. Prevention is always better than treatment. Jess believes, self-massage can be a great tool to help with tissue recovery and to address soft tissue pain that can come up as you start a new activity or are dusting the runners off after a period of hibernation. Do you have a regular self-massage schedule?
The name of the game is staying injury free, so you can be consistently improving with your training. Running trails means your tissues are dealing with a variety loads (surfaces, hills, time on your feet) and injuries can be a frustrating set-back, so keeping on top of your recovery is essential.
Grab a foam roller and a trigger ball and try some of these self-massage techniques for happy hips. Print PDF here.
Nutrition and Hydration
Kate Freeman from Ayla/Healthy Eating Hub has some great tips and tricks for us:
Your favourite easy snack to eat during the first 30 minutes of a long trail running event.
For endurance exercise that goes beyond 90-120 minutes, it’s recommended to consume at least 30g of carbohydrate per hour to help fuel the exercise and decrease fatigue. Research also shows that the earlier you start to consume carbohydrates during your exercise the more effective it is in fuelling your run. So, don’t leave the carbs to the last minute? It’s too late by then. See if you can eat at least 15 g of carbs in your first 30 minutes of exercise. I like:
- One banana.
- One pouch pureed fruit.
- Half a sports drink – make sure it has sugar in it, not a sugar free one – the point is consuming carbs (sugar).
- Half a honey or jam sandwich.
We want to keep this simple and affordable. We could dive deep into sports science, nutrition and dietetics for endurance performance – but that isn’t what this series is about. We are at the very beginning path of a fun running journey together.
How much water should I drink during an event?
Your body’s hydration levels are so complex that it is almost impossible to predict how much water an individual should drink. Your fitness levels, the outside temperature, the type of activity you’re doing, the humidity levels, your age, gender, body size… they all have an effect on your hydration status.
However, in endurance sports we tend to recommend that you replace the water that you lost plus consume an additional 50 percent. So, if you lost 600ml (sweat and breathing) over an hour of exercise, then you should consume 900ml for every hour of exercise you do to avoid excessive water loss. You can find out your sweat rate through measuring your weight immediately before and after exercise (don’t drink anything or change clothes) – the weight lost over the hour is your sweat rate! Do this a couple of times in different scenarios and you get an average that you can use to plan your fluid requirements for a long run.
Too complicated to find out your sweat rate? A good rule of thumb is to consume 1L water for every hour of exercise. You may need more in hotter conditions. If exercise goes for 2 or more hours you will also need to consider an electrolyte drink or supplement to replace these as well.
So, there are our tips for this week. Consistency, hip mobility, specific trail running shoes, appropriate simple snacks and hydration.
Do you have a favourite trail shoe? Do you have a nutrition plan for your long runs? Do you drink enough water?
In Part Three of Lounge Room to 5km we are chatting to a local podiatrist, talking hydration vest tips and we are picking the brains of another local dietician from Canberra Allied Health about recovery snacks post workout and what & when to eat before a run.
* Stats and data came from The State of Trail Running 2022 report.
