COACH’S CORNER – GOING FROM ROAD RUNNING TO TRAILS WITH GLEN SMETHERHAM

Kate Dzienis • November 1, 2021

Coach’s Corner is a feature for AURA members, where qualified trained professionals provide you with advice and tips on improving and enhancing your ultra running performance.

Contributed by Glen Smetherham, Consistent Running Online Run Coaching head coach

Glen Smetherham is a Level 2 Advanced Recreational Running Coach accredited with Athletic Australia. With a focus on how the individual is responding to training, coach and athlete working together is the best way to achieve running goals. Glen is always working on finding the best methods and training practices to help athletes achieve their running goals. He has completed over 25 ultra marathons from 48kms up to 350kms, as well as many other endurance events.

Tips for adapting from road to trails

I’ll get the secret hack out of the way first. The simplest way to ensure your legs and feet are adapted to trail running in a way that will improve efficiency and reduce injury risk is… 5-10 years of consistent running on trails.

As with running fitness and efficiency, there are no shortcuts, but there are certainly some things you can do to ease the transition and give yourself the best chance of running well on trails and start to build that consistent volume. While nothing beats accumulated time on trails and 5-10 years ago may have been the most optimal time to start running on trails, the next best time is now!

Take It Easy

Initially, both the type of trails you run on and the effort you run at should be easy. When you start running on trails, don’t bomb down the most technical trail you can find at top speed. The forces and loads you experience when running on trails will be different to road running. While road running has more repetitive loads (which itself can lead to issues), trail running has much more varied loads and some connective tissues that have been getting away with a reduced load while running on the road, may all of a sudden be stressed more during trail runs. Over time, this varied load is one of the reasons trail running can benefit a runner but initially, care should be taken not to do too much too soon. A change in mindset when running trails can help. Be more flexible with your planning, focusing on time rather than distance can help. Focus less on pace and more on being in the moment, enjoying your time on the trails.

Shoes

While I won’t go into the details of the best trail running shoes, switching from road shoes to trail shoes can make a big difference. Trail shoes offer better grip, more protection, and are generally made to handle the rougher conditions. As with road shoes, you will find just as much variation in trail shoes with higher or lower stack heights, zero to high drop, more cushioning or greater ground feel. Some offer protection from rocks with a built in (or removable) rock plate and we are also starting to see some carbon fibre plates in trail shoes. With all of your running shoes it is a good idea to rotate between a few pairs as just like trail running, that will add variety to the tissue loads and reduce the risk of overuse injuries. Finding what is comfortable and best suited to the trails you run and races you plan to do is important. Ask for the opinion of others to help with your decision, and you can also find some great reviews online at running websites or on YouTube. One reviewer I have found who does great shoe reviews is Seth James Demoor ( https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYfIYL7lfsKyigk-MaEXuC-h14teDorf)

Connective Tissue Conditioning

Many injuries and niggles that people get when starting out on trails can be due to specific connective tissues (ligaments, tendons, bones, etc.) being unable to tolerate the greater load that trail running may put on them. To raise this threshold of these tissues, we must expose them to gradual increases in load (without going over the threshold) and provide the rest that will allow them to adapt. Ligaments (bone-to-bone) keep joints sturdy. Small decreases in stiffness of ligaments can lead to an increase in injury risk. Stiffer = better. Tendons (bone-to-muscle) are stiff at bone-end and more compliant/stretchy at muscle-end. Stiffer is not always better. Stiffer tendons result in an increase in the speed that we can transmit force produced by muscle, which has a performance benefit, however, if a tendon is stiffer than the muscle is strong, this can lead to non-contact muscle injury. If a runner has a history of muscle strains, we can reduce the risk of future injuries by increasing the strength of the muscle (the most common approach). We can further reduce that risk by also reducing the stiffness of the associated tendon. Isometric exercises and slow, heavy-load exercises are best for reducing tendon stiffness. As well as the type of exercises done, the timing of exercises (and runs) can make a difference with connective tissue health. Connective tissue only requires a short duration of loading to get the adaptions we require. Research has shown that within 5-10 minutes of starting an activity, the molecular response had reached its maximum. If loading is then continued, the molecular signals began switching off. It has also been determined that it takes six hours for the cells to be ready to respond to exercise again. This means that short targeted sessions of 10 minutes followed by at least six hours rest before repeating will work best for connective tissue adaptions. This approach can also be great when beginning trail running (or returning from injury). More frequent, short runs will result in better (connective tissue) adaptions than a similar overall volume done over fewer runs. If possible, increase frequency to 4-6 runs before adding too much distance to any single run. If you would like to dig deeper into this topic, follow the research of Dr Keith Barr, or for a great summary, watch this YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgcR5J1dwcY

Strength Training

Strength training is probably the main thing (that isn’t running) that most people are aware will help with their trail (and road) running and potentially reduce their risks of injuries. I\t doesn’t mean most people will do it though. While this topic definitely deserves more than a few paragraphs, I’ll just add a few tips that are worth following up. By adding in 2-3 strength training sessions per week, or using more frequent mini-strength sessions which include a variety of strength training modalities is likely to have a positive effect on runners of all abilities. Generally, I have found runners who add in some strength training will also have greater confidence when running more technical trails. Including single leg exercises is very important and doing exercises while unstable may be a good progression when ready. It’s better to do the strength with the foot/feet on a stable surface and have the instability from holding/moving weights, than trying to do the strength work on a moving, unstable surface.

Be Kind To Yourself

Trail running is a different beast to road running and it’s likely the first few runs may leave you feeling disheartened as you probably cover less distance or take much longer than you would if on road. Don’t compare paces, times or efforts. That is one of the great things about trail running. Even the same trail can seem very different at different times of the year (or day/night/rain/hot). Enjoy the process and know that you are chipping away at the secret hack of 5-10 years towards trail running adapted legs.

Glen Smetherham, Head Coach
Consistent Running Online Run Coaching

Get in touch with Glen Smetherham by clicking on the logo above, or visiting his socials

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AUTRA News Report 19-02-2025

By Kate Dzienis • February 19, 2025

The latest in race results, covering Cradle Mountain Run, City Run, Oscars 100 Hut 2 Hut and Yaberoo Trail Ultra.

Final 2024 Points Competition Results

By Alexis Oosterhoff • January 30, 2025

Results for the 2024 AUTRA Points Competition have been finalised, and are available on our Points Competition page. Full details of the top 10 (as shared on Facebook during January) are detailed below, and results for all participating AUTRA members can be found in the documents at the above link. It was a real battle throughout the year between our top two finishers, Phil Gore & Kevin "BK" Matthews, with both giving it their it their all at events, and through contributions to the community - volunteering at multiple events, and submitting articles to our monthly newsletter, Ultramag. They finished within 2km of total distance for the year (Phil on 1203.087km, and Kevin on 1205.510km), and it was only Phil's final volunteering effort on 6 Inch Trail Marathon in December that gave him the that very narrow victory. As you'd be aware from previous communications, this marks the end of the Points Competition. With trail running (of all distances) now incorporated into AU T RA's constitution, and after careful consideration of the costs of the competition payouts in it's current form, the committee felt it was time for it's retirement. This marks my seventh and final year of delivering the points competition to membership (2018-2024), after taking on the role from Cheryl Symons. It has brought me great joy in doing so, and I feel like I've had an opportunity to get to know so many of our members through seeing their race (and volunteering) performances over the years! I'm continuing in my role as the AUS/NZL statistician for DUV (from whom we shared the data for the points comp), and you can expect to continue to find your ultra-race result on their site. 1st Place - Phil Gore (WA) - 86 points Phil's achievements this year have included a massive 265.653km (and 2nd place) at the IAU 24h Asia & Oceania Championships, wins at the Red Dirt Backyard Ultra (33 laps), the Australian leg of Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship (96 laps), and the Soochow/Taipei 24h Ultramarathon (270.826km). He also knocked out an easy (!) 72km at the Light Horse Ultra 24h in between supporting his amazing wife Gemma. Those two 24h wins netted Phil new Oceania 24h Open Male records, IAU Level 1 qualifiers, and pushed him to the top of Australia's 24h trophy board (with only the great Yiannis Kouros having run further). Phil topped-up his points by contributing one article to Ultramag, worked as an Event Director at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, and volunteered at a further five events through the year. He finished on 86 points. 2nd Place - Kevin Matthews (WA) - 84 points Finishing in 2nd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Kevin Matthews. He monstered his way through the year with finishes at Australia Day Ultra 100km, Delirious WEST 200mi, 24 laps at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, 190km at Light Horse Ultra 24h, 23 laps at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, and also completed Feral Pig 100 miler, Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km. And to top things off, he contributed five articles to Ultramag, and volunteered at five events. BK ran 1205km in Ultramarathon races this year, all of them AUTRA-listed, and surpassed 100 marathon finishes (including 51 Ultramarathons!) Kevin finished the year on 84 points, a massive 34 points ahead of our 3rd place finisher Sue Robertson. 3rd Place - Sue Robertson (WA) - 50 points Finishing in 3rd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Sue Robertson. Sue completed the Ultra Series 100 miler trilogy of Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST, and rounded out her year with the Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km races. She received 30 points from the racing at AUTRA-listed events, and was awarded a further 20 points by volunteering across eight events and contributing two articles to Ultramag, for a total of 50 points for the year. Thank you Sue! 4th Place - Margie Hadley (WA) - 47 points Finishing in 4th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Margie Hadley . She was the top-female finisher at both the No Time to Die Frontyard Ultra & Wild Dog Backyard Ultra, 2nd at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, ran 182km at the Australian 24h Track Invitational and placed 3rd at Coast to Kosci. Margie received 47 points in the competition 5th Place - Melissa Robertson (NSW) - 44 points Finishing in 5th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Melissa Robertson. Melissa took out 1st place at Irrational SOUTH 200 miler, 2nd place at Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place at Hume & Hovell 100 miler, 3rd place at Rumble in the Jungle and 6th place at Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko 100 miler! She also volunteered at the GNW 50km event, receiving 44 points in the competition! 6th Place - Aaron Young (WA) - 42 points Finishing in 6th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Aaron Young . Aaron finished in 1st place at each of the Ultra Series "Triple Crown" of 200 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), 55 laps at Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship, and rounded his year out with Feral Pig 100 miler. Aaron receives 42 points, just nudging ahead of Maree Connor (who also finished on 42 points) on a count-back 7th Place - Maree Connor (NSW) - 42 points Finishing in 7th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Maree Connor. Maree had an outstanding year, achieving 2nd place with 221km (and an IAU Level 1 qualifier) at the IAU 24th Asian and Oceania Championships, 1st place at the Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place with 67km at the Southern Sydney 6h race, and 1st place with 116km at the Narrabeen Allnighter 12h. Maree also competed at Spartathlon race this year (for which she contributed an article to the September Ultramag on her experience), receiving 42 points in the competition. 8th Place - Darren Linney (SA) - 41 points Finishing in 8th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is SA's Darren Linney . Darren completed 34 laps at No Time to Die BYU, 199km at the Adelaide 24h race, and 814km at the Australian 6 Day race, for a total of 1241km raced and 41 points . 9th Place - Tristan Cameron (WA) - 40 points Finishing in 9th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Tristan Cameron. Tristan completed the Ultra Series Triple Crown of 200 mile races (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), along with Feral Pig 100 miler, for a total of 1154km raced and 40 points. 10th Place - Jen Millum (WA) - 39 points Finishing in 10th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Jen Millum . Jen finished 1st at all three of the Ultra Series Trilogy of 100 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), and was 2nd female with 35 laps at the Wild Dog Backyard Ultra. With a volunteer stint at the Yaberoo Trail Ultra, Jen finished the year with 39 points in the competition. To view the complete list of members who secured points in 2024 click here and then follow through to Points Summary under the 2024 tab. All winners have already been contacted, with cash prizes distributed for 1st - 7th places, and AUTRA Store vouchers sent for 8th, 9th & 10th.