windwalker
I need an Adventure
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2006
- Messages
- 6,477
AmyBeth I saw your post about the trail race and I wanted to comment but since others might be interested I thought I'd do a seperate post.
I did a trail race yesterday, it was a walk race but ya can't racewalk well on grass and soft surface so I lost to a fellow I beat everytime we race on the road.
When you race on the trail soft surface the power you get from your toe push off is absorded by the softness. So even someone who is normally faster than you may not be as fast on the dirt.
I have raced this particular course many times and another thing I've noticed is that the closer race day is to the last rain the slower I go. So I'm assuming that is because the surface is even softer if the ground is wetter.
I've also noticed that your stride has to be different on the dirt and grass. I normally don't pick my feet up very high to get a faster turn over rate but on the soft surface I'll catch my feet on the ground if I don't lift higher than normal. Stepping over the occassional root or rock makes you break stride to.
Yesterday was a hilly course but no more so than the road courses I train and race on but my legs were really mad at me during and after the race. My hams, shins and ITB area was hurting during the latter part of the race and after it was over my hams were sore. Normall in a race my legs will burn a little from the effort but nowhere near like this. I'm ok this morning but still taking a rest day since I'm driving to WDW tomorrow morning.
Anyway, you may do better than you think since your toughness can give you an edge over faster runners.
Anyone feel free to comment or share trail thoughts of your own.
Trail Racing Panda
I did a trail race yesterday, it was a walk race but ya can't racewalk well on grass and soft surface so I lost to a fellow I beat everytime we race on the road.
When you race on the trail soft surface the power you get from your toe push off is absorded by the softness. So even someone who is normally faster than you may not be as fast on the dirt.
I have raced this particular course many times and another thing I've noticed is that the closer race day is to the last rain the slower I go. So I'm assuming that is because the surface is even softer if the ground is wetter.
I've also noticed that your stride has to be different on the dirt and grass. I normally don't pick my feet up very high to get a faster turn over rate but on the soft surface I'll catch my feet on the ground if I don't lift higher than normal. Stepping over the occassional root or rock makes you break stride to.
Yesterday was a hilly course but no more so than the road courses I train and race on but my legs were really mad at me during and after the race. My hams, shins and ITB area was hurting during the latter part of the race and after it was over my hams were sore. Normall in a race my legs will burn a little from the effort but nowhere near like this. I'm ok this morning but still taking a rest day since I'm driving to WDW tomorrow morning.
Anyway, you may do better than you think since your toughness can give you an edge over faster runners.
Anyone feel free to comment or share trail thoughts of your own.
Trail Racing Panda
