Winter has set in, and with it often comes a drop in enthusiasm and motivation. But if you want to make it to the finish line, you’ll have to keep working hard.

The good news is that, to keep that motivation high, you can try out some trail running. It’s an absolute winter staple. Trail running will strengthen muscles in the foot, ankle and pelvis, otherwise not developed while running on urban terrain. 

Overall, the strengthening gained through trail running creates more power and results in greater running efficiency.  Running efficiency is obviously very important for the marathon and can be developed effectively off – road

Trail Running Can Increase Your Focus

Mentally speaking, trail running provides an escape from traffic, crosswalks and running on crowded roads: the perfect way to embrace nature and escape the gloom of winter. Nothing makes a run go by faster than quiet, natural surroundings where you are not bombarded with horns and stoplights. Getting out on a trail allows you to truly focus on the training session objectives, running form and even your own goals.

When talking about a great marathon, performance runners will always talk about getting into a good rhythm or being in “the zone.” This seems easy to do on a racecourse blocked off from vehicle traffic and with the whole road to use, but in training it can be challenging and best accomplished on a trail. Getting in the zone is something that can and should be practiced in training and the ideal place to find the distraction-free environment is on the trails.

One method is to mentally concentrate on the sound of each footstep hitting the trail and recognizing change in pace through sound (similar to learning rhythm on a musical instrument). This exercise is most successful by leaving the headphones at home and running on a quiet trail without distractions. There is also research that verifies the positive mental effect of hitting the trails, which found participants tend to walk faster with a lower RPE, at a greater physiological effort (verified by heart rate and blood lactate), suggesting they perceive exercise to be less demanding when performed in a natural environment. This perceived lower effort has advantages during high volume marathon training when mental fatigue makes it harder complete (or sometimes just start) a training session.

Mental preparation for marathons is just as important as the physical preparation in regards to focus, race strategy and motivation. Trail running provides an opportunity to practice these skills and escape the stress related to urban running.

Lace up your shoes, head on out, and explore new trails.