Handling Muddy Trails


Having been racing on some very muddy trails recently, I thought that I would share a few tidbits from my experience.

First, let’s level set about something. If I know that the trails are dry, I will likely run in my road shoes. Road shoes will work just fine on a just about any dry trail. I have never ran in to a situation where they did not do the job.

Now, if rain has been falling or will be falling making the course a wet sloppy mess, switching to trail shoes would be my first suggestion. Make sure to choose a trail shoe which has a good cleats on the bottom. While new tail shoes will work best. Even older, worn trail shoes will work better than road shoes on a muddy trail.

With shoes in hand, are there things that can be done while running on the trail?

The answer most definitely, yes.

Avoid running in the middle of the trail if the trial shows clear signs of being muddy. As more and more runners tread along on the trail, they will churn up the ground in to slippery mud. Running along the edges will tend to give better traction where possible.

Now, nearly every trail that I have run will always have some uphills and some downhills. Try to avoid leaning back on while descending. This tends to put my weight behind my foot which increase the risk that I will go sliding. The better option is to lean in to the downhill while keeping as much weight as possible over the ball of my foot. Yes, this sounds counter intuitive and bit reckless. But in my experience, it tends to work.

Once course swings back to the uphill, use the banking on the sides of the trail help climb it. What I do is pinch my knees slightly inward so my ankles flare out. This way, I am using each side of the trail to propel myself upward. This technique is a bit of a variant from my suggestion for running on the sides of a trail. Sometimes it just is not possible to run on the sides uphill but bouncing back and forth from side to side will work fairly well.

This next suggestion pertains to taking a turns on a trail. I learned this lesson just last year. I went in to a left hand turn and decided to take the inside track on the trail. I planted my foot which promptly gave way sending me sliding down and across the trail. No, the better option is to take the outside line on a trail. Here, I would have been pushing against the banking which tends to hold up better.

Lastly, my best suggestion is to take advantage of all straight ahead sections. These are best sections to make good time with low risk.

Having suggested all of the above, remember that nothing is full proof. I am zipping along on a trail in questionable conditions. I am looking ahead and making split second decisions based on my experience of what is the best path to take. Choosing wisely is very important.

So if slowing down makes sense, then do so. Better to finish the race 2 or 3 seconds slower than twist and ankle or worse break an ankle.

Kickin’ up trail dust,

The Cool Down Runner
  




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