How to Start Trail Running

Trail running doesn't have to be intimidating. A trail-ultra marathoner has made the ultimate guide to taking your runs off the pavement and onto trails.

- By Andy Holak

So, you'd like to take your running off-road and onto the trails? It's a lot less complicated and intimidating than you might think. While trail running is natural and intuitive-it's something humans have been doing for millennia-there are tips and tricks to help make it easier to start.

Trail running is simply running on any unpaved surface, and it combines the physical act of running with the enjoyment of your natural surroundings. As a former road runner, I was drawn to trails nearly 30 years ago because while I really liked to run, I liked getting out in the woods and enjoying nature's beauty just as much. When you're running trails, you're forced to be agile. Navigating around and bouncing past rocks and roots is less repetitive than road running, but you still get in a great workout.

If you're new to the sport, find yourself a pair of trail shoes that fit your feet and match your anticipated conditions (for a few recommendations from our gear team, see this issue's shoe guide on p. 61). I began trail running before there were trail running-specific shoes, and lacing up my highly cushioned road shoes often resulted in a sprained ankle. When I finally found a good pair of low-profile trail shoes with less cushion, allowing me to feel the ground, I found my stride and flew down the trails with abandon. Trail-running shoes have larger lugs for improved grip, toe bumpers for when you inevitably kick a rock, and sometimes a rock plate to protect against sharp pokes underfoot. It's important to find a shoe that can lock your foot into place with a solid lacing system or grippier footbed. This increases your agility while keeping your toes from smashing into the front of your shoe on downhills.