[mhsc]

I’ve completed Evoke’s 24-week mountaineering training plan with great results, with two climbs this summer. I’ve decided to take a short break from mountaineering until 2024, mainly to avoid training burnout.

I’m considering trail running as a means to cross train and build up my aerobic base before structured training starts up again. I am a mountaineer at heart and trail running is something that I’ve never done before.

What would be more beneficial for mountaineering next year?

1. Follow Evoke’s 50K trail running plan as a newbie (I noticed the strength exercises are different)

2. Repeat and extend the base building portion of the 24-week mountaineering plan

It took me several seasons to get really good at carrying a heavy pack uphill. Would I lose that quickly by running exclusively, unweighted, for the next few months? Should I be targeting hilly runs instead of flat trails to compensate?

What I most hope to improve is consistent endurance over multiple long back to back days. A strong base is key, but that should involve a mix of both long slow distance runs and strength (via a weighted pack), correct?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[Scott Johnston]

mhsc:  Thanks for writing in with your questions.  Trail/mountain running is an ideal way to build that aerobic base.  I have personally coached some of the fastest mountaineers and alpinists in the world, and all of them used running as their primary modality for aerobic base training.  You might want to read this article https://evokeendurance.com/our-training-philosophy-put-to-a-test-by-elite-alpinists/.

A mix of running and hiking will do the job, and if you are new to running, you will need to be very gradual in your approach to adding volume. You may be aerobically fit right now, but the connective tissues in your legs are not strong enough yet to handle the repetitive pounding that running imposes on them. Run on soft surfaces (treadmills are excellent for this if you don’t have dirt access easily).  It is hard to give you a blanket recommendation without knowing much more about you. But here is a conservative approach: Start with no more than three days of running/week and no more than 30 minutes at a stretch.  Do this for four weeks before considering increasing volume. If all goes well, you can start by adding 10% to each run.  I know this sounds like a crazy, slow process.  The single biggest reason people stop running is lower leg soft tissue injury from overuse.  Most people become impatient and ramp up too fast.

This ‘break’ would be a good time to also focus on building strength for the pack carries.  Box step-ups and downs in a gym with a barbell using the max strength protocol from your 24-week plan will do a good job of building that specific strength.  This will establish a good foundation of strength for when you shift to more event-specific muscular endurance training.

I hope this helps.
Scott

 

 

[mhsc]

Scott,

Thank you for the detailed and thoughtful response. I look forward to the journey into trail running, and will also incorporate the box step-up exercises into the schedule as appropriate.

I appreciate your perceptiveness about soft tissue adaptation. I am an ex-road racer and have not run consistently for several years. It has been hard to restart for those exact reasons you mentioned, as I can no longer quickly hit my previous weekly mileage due to lower leg aches and pains.

As an avid consumer and beneficiary of Evoke’s podcasts, teach-ins, and of course your two books, I would like to thank you for sharing your knowledge with the broader community!

 

 

[Andrew Bollard]

@mhsc:

When you say it took you several seasons to get good at carrying a pack uphill, what does this mean exactly? Are you referring to ME training, or are you talking about doing aerobic hikes with a weighted pack in your base period? If it’s the latter, please have a read of this topic where I recently responded to a similar question. This post in the Military section of the website is a good reference too, and does a better job than me of explaining the correlation between unweighted running performance and rucking (i.e. heavy pack carries in the mountaineering context) performance.

[Andrew Bollard]

@mhsc:

When you say it took you several seasons to get really good at carrying a heavy pack uphill, what does this mean exactly?

A strong base is key, but that should involve a mix of both long slow distance runs and strength (via a weighted pack), correct?

If you’re talking about doing aerobic hikes with a weighted pack, please have a read of this topic where I responded to a similar question, and this post in the Military section of the website, which does a much better job of explaining the same concept than my post.

[Andrew Bollard]

@mhsc:

When you say it took you several seasons to get really good at carrying a heavy pack uphill, what does this mean exactly?

A strong base is key, but that should involve a mix of both long slow distance runs and strength (via a weighted pack), correct?

If you’re talking about doing aerobic hikes with a weighted pack, please have a read of this topic where I responded to a similar question, and this post in the Military section of the website, which does a much better job of explaining the same concept than my post.

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