1.1 What Qualifies as a Best Run?

When Brennan and I look back at what we consider our best runs, almost all of them were trails. It’s not just the scenery. As you move along a trail, through forest, desert, parkland, you enter a different state of mind. You’re constantly interacting with the ground, vegetation, elevation change, and a variety of sounds and aromas. Mind–body activity is elevated to a higher level of awareness to be ready to react. You’re living in the moment and interacting with real life around you as you move forward.

There is something primitive and restorative when running on the trail. Our ancestors programmed us to keep going for days at a time because survival depended upon doing so. As we move down along a natural trail, we go back to our roots in a positive way. Barbara cited the mental and psychological benefits in the preface. The bottom line is that we almost always feel better after a trail run with a sense of connecting to our environment and other living creatures.

Sharing. There’s a special bond that occurs when we run with one or more companions along a trail. We’re turning on circuits that connect us with millions of years of evolution. The extra trust and cooperation you feel toward a trail running companion often extends after the run. Some runners communicate and bond better on trails—even when nothing is said—than when running other venues. Trail companions are connected in ancient and satisfying ways, pulling one another along to get through tough situations.

Variety. Even if you run the same trail each day you will feel different sensations on each run—because of changes in lighting, seasons, and weather. When you choose a different trail every month, you will enhance your running experience and look forward to each adventure. One of the missions of this book is to introduce you to 50 interesting running venues. Don’t keep these to yourself—spread the word.

The mission. Planning for trail runs connects you to the history and geography of the area. It’s fun to find interesting places to stay, eat, and explore. As you coordinate with travel companions you’ll create a special life experience—not just a running experience.

Enjoyable scenery. Most of the trails we selected for this book have scenic sections. Some are spectacular, others offer a series of natural scenes that are enjoyable in themselves with visual images, interesting and diverse sounds, mysteries, and puzzles. Surprising are the discoveries during runs on trails that at first seem boring or unstimulating. Within a few minutes you’ll see details of ground cover, vegetation, animal prints or signs, and sounds made by the wind or vegetation. You could write several pages about the details seen and felt along every segment of just about any trail.

Strengthening of legs and feet. The feet and legs have to work a bit harder on trails to maintain balance, push off on different terrain, and shift usage of muscles. All of the adaptations for adjusting to various surfaces are embedded in us. As we run regularly on non-paved surfaces we get better and better at adjusting pace, foot placement, inserting walk breaks, and moving around hazards. You find a different sense of balance on trails. Muscles and tendons intuitively strengthen and work together in special ways during different segments of each trail. You’ll often notice when a road runner spends a year training on trails, many of the small leg muscles acquire greater definition.

Part of nature. As you move through the trees, plants, hills, grass, or sand, you become part of nature—picking up bits of the forest, field, valley, or prairie. You’re literally grounded as you touch earth on each step. You feel and wear the moisture (or lack of) and collect the dust, mist, snow, frost, or dew.

Preparation for off-road races. A growing number of races offer off–road races or segments. As you train on trails that simulate your race course, you adapt the feet, legs, and balance for the exact demands of the race itself. Many who run trail events will schedule trips to train on the course in advance and reduce the surprises on race day. The best preparation for running on a trail is to train on that trail.

View scenery in a unique way. Due to the lighting, foliage, or recent precipitation, each scene on a trail run is different from any other. Many runners carry cameras or phones and capture images that are revisited over and over, often turning the photos into screensavers. But most of the images are stored away in the memory cells. Every week, during a run, a certain image, shadow, or cloud formation will bring flashes of my rich memories in the Sierra mountains, Arizona desert preserves, or a Florida pine forest. Some were experienced last week but others decades ago—a wonderful and direct connection with our running past.

Brain invigoration. The brain instinctively revs up when you start running on a trail, turning on circuits for high awareness. From ancient times, running directly on the earth required more resources from the mind–body network. The central nervous system is on high alert, reflexes are ready to respond, energy circuits gear up to conserve and then deliver as needed. Muscles are activated, performance hormones are released, and mechanical units flow into a smooth range of motion. I know of no other activity that activates our vitality and positive expectations than trail running.

The result is that I feel more alive and energized when running down a trail: body, mind, and spirit working together. Brennan and I wish you many special trail experiences.