Great recap! I'm happy to hear the race went well and the weather cooperated. Fantastic news that the trails were able to dry out.
This was your first 25K, right? If so, congrats on the pr!
I don't spend a lot of time on trails but I always enjoy it when I do. I'm also always surprised when they feel so much harder than road miles. Have you always been a trail runner? Any tips for how to get started?
Thanks! Yes, my first 25K. But one of the things about trail racing is that every course is different, so you can't really compare even the same race distances. A 25K with 1000 ft of elevation gain (like this one) that is on easy terrain (like this one) will be very different from a 25K with lots of rocks and roots and 2500 ft of elevation gain. There is some variation in road races because of hills, but really not to the same degree.
I started running on paved surfaces. I have done a number of road HMs and five road marathons. During the pandemic I threw in a few trails during a training cycle and after my marathon in November 2020, I switched over to trails for trail racing. For training, I generally do mid-week runs on paved surfaces and weekend runs on trails.
I knew starting out on trails that I would be slower on them, but I didn't realize how much the slow-down would depend on the type of surface and the hills - usually there are a lot more hills on trails. But after running consistently on them, I have gotten faster, just like running consistently for "normal" running.
For getting started, my first suggestions is that you don't think at all about pace. Think about effort level. This is usually a HR zone or range of HR BPM. For example, my easy runs should be at a HR of 67% or lower. When I was using DopeyBadger training plans for road running, this translated to a pace of 11:56 or slower. But using my HR zones/percentages (using the HRR calculation method), this translates to a HR of 140 BPM or lower. So I watch my HR when I do easy runs and not the pace. I even do this when I do paved easy runs now.
Similarly, if I want to run at LR or tempo pace, I put that in terms of my HR and pay attention to that. It does mean that, especially for easy runs, I end up power-walking a lot of uphills. But that is improving.
Second suggestion: if you plan on trail racing, then train on hills a lot. Don't avoid them. There are a lot of different training modalities for hills, but if you don't do them, you won't get better on them. Trail races are full of hills.
Third suggestion: if you're going to consistently run on trails, get a pair of trail running shoes. I know my Brooks shoe size, so I have Adrenaline GTSs for road running and Cascadias for trail running. The extra traction on the trail shoes is very useful. Also, some types have extra protection inside for if you step on sharp rocks and the materials overall are a little tougher so they won't get eaten up as fast.
I have really, really been enjoying trail running and racing. I won't rule out doing road races if there's some reason I would like to, but I don't see myself doing it a lot.