Mountain Running Training

Supercell

Does anyone here participate in the IMRA races?

I'm hoping to join in on some of the races in the new year. Fitness wise am not going to be able to run them, probably stop start most of the time.

What kind of training routine do you do if you are a mountain runner?
I'm very unsure what I need to aim at doing day to day to be able to compete.

copacetic

there was a few threads last year about them, a fair few people here do them. wouldn't worry about running them tbh, only about the top 20 out of 200 can do that.

general running stamina is very important, if you have that then practising running the courses and pacing yourself is the best thing to do. You need to get the hang of running fast downhill as well.

The most basic thing I'd say if you want to race the races, then train in the hills as much as possible. Most of the courses are online, but they are all pretty similar in terrain. Its a great help if at all possible to know the route of the races, as you need to know when to pace yourself and when you can let yourself go. Cresting the brow of a hill after giving it your all to find that there is a steeper one to come before you reach the top can be a killer.


edit: here is one of the threads:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055083459&highlight=imra

fergalr

I do some of the imra races.
They are very easy to get into and very welcoming. The summer series (the 2008 calendar is now available on IMRA.ie) is a very good introduction. If you do those once a week, with a bit of training between them, you'll see good improvements in your fitness.
People of all standards participate in the races - some people walk almost all the race, and some people run it all, there's a huge range of abilities and a good atmosphere.

Regarding training for the races, it really depends on what level you are at now, which you didn't mention. I'm not a sports guy, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but here's some thoughts.

The races can be pretty demanding on your body. If you are sedentry now, considering the time of year it is, you might be best off starting with going on a long hike each week, to build leg strength, and overall aerobic ability, and gradually ease into a gentle program of easy running on the flat. There's plenty of info out there on starting to run. It's pretty easy to injure yourself when you start running if you do too much too soon, and it's also easy to get demoralised with slow progress - but if you start slow and stick with it for about 8 weeks, you start to get quite fit and get your base built.

If you've already done a bit of running (eg, you could go and jog 10k), then the main thing you need to practice is hills - running in the hills is quite a bit different to running on the flat in terms of muscle use, so you just need to get out there, and start trying to walk quickly, or jog slowly, up hills.
This time of the season a lot of people are building strength and aerboic capacity - but again it depends on what level you are at.

Definitely start training though, and give it a go - if you are even vaguely fit once the Leinster League racing season starts, go along to the races, they'll be great fun.

Supercell

Thanks lads, I'm currently only able to jog about 5k, but thats a vast improvement on a couple of months ago. I'm training every second day on a treadmill with one run at the weekend outside. As the evenings start to lengthen again in the new year will try and do most of my running outdoors.

The Leinster league looks like it starts in April which gives a target to get a a good level of fitness by.

The winter league in January, is that going to be a step to far considering where I'm at right now?

fergalr

If you've been training for a few months, and you can jog 5k, then you've already come a long way.
At least in my personal experience, getting to the point where you can go and keep a reasonable pace for about 5k is the biggest hump to get over, as once you are that far, doing running training is much more rewarding (as opposed to where you have to walk/jog/walk all the time).

I'd say you could make the winter league, you only need 3 races to count, although obviously it's nice to do more, and though the first one is in 6 weeks, the second isn't till February. The first race, howth, will have a mix of different ground in it - have only run there once, there was a fair bit of muck towards the start, and at least one technical descent - if you don't feel up to it, wait till the second one in feb.

Going to doing 8.5k with 200m climb from 5k will take a bit of work depending on how often you jog the 5k. You should probably be aiming to just get around the races at the start. You should find a beginning running program from the net or a book that describes what you currently do, and use it as a base to start increasing your milage towards 8/10k. People usually recommend no more than an increase of 10% per week.
Follow a program, and as you get into Jan start doing some of your outdoor runs in the hills (eg, ticknock on three rock on a weekend day). Any time can spend hiking outdoors, or walking over broken ground would also be beneficial.
You will also need running gear you are comfortable running in the cold in (eg wicking t-shirt, light fleece, some sort of winter running trousers), and a decent pair of trail runners (great outdoors sell some good salomon runners a lot of people wear).

An example training program might be:
http://www.halhigdon.com/10ktraining/10knovice.htm
for the 8 weeks to the Feb three rock run. Where he recommends doing stretching and strength training, do some ankle strengthening exercises.
There are lots of other programs on the same site as well.

Following a training program like this, doing the runs outdoors, and taking your first hill runs quite slowly you should make it round ok - mind your ankles till you get used to it!