Trail Running for Climbers

Trail running can improve your baseline cardio making approaches easier and improving your endurance. It took me years of denial to finally embrace the benefits of running as part of my climbing routine.

In my 20’s I trained for climbing by simply climbing. And I climbed a lot. Now with 2 young kids and the usual life trappings my climbing has taken on a different seat. The far less frequent trips to the crag are augmented with sessions at the local gym and trail running.

The worst thing for a climbing parent is to align the stars and make it to a crag with a partner only to flail because you didn’t take the time to work on your cardio on the ground.

Start short and build up.

For me, running is not very fun at the beginning. Over the years i have had love/hate relationship with running which more often amounted to hate. Each time I put down the sport it was with great effort that I pushed through the less pleasant days of regaining my running stamina.

Once I reached that sweet spot, a distance where running was enjoyable, I try to maintain with a run or two a week.

Alex Honnold himself has said he enjoys running on off days to explore new areas on non-climbing days.

For me, an added bonus of a running routine is the ability to “off-the-couch” local summits if I have a day to climb but no partner.

Trail running has been a great addition to my climbing routine now that my climbing career has reached its second decade.