We're diving deep on the races, training tips, and gear you need to know to get outside off paved roads to run a whole new way. Click here for more stories about the trail explosion. I HAD BEEN following the path for just over two hours when I finally thought to look at my watch to check my pace.
I was making my way through the Alps during the MCC, a 40-kilometer race that’s part of the legendary Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) series, a weeklong, multi-race event many consider to be the Super Bowl of the trail running world. Before this, I had never run a trail race. My competitive experience was on the roads or the track, and that mentality bleeds into my workouts in the way I typically prioritize speed over everything.
When I’m running on the street, I check my watch every few minutes (if not on the minute) to monitor my pace, obsessively keeping up with the plan I had for my workout or race goal. I do my best not to stop (or even slow down for traffic), even though there’s no one forcing me to keep going. When I’m running more than 10 miles, I carry water with me and take fuel on the run so I don’t have to pause my watch.
I constantly compare myself to my best race performance, and I don’t want to fall behind. But on the paths from Martigny-Combe to Chamonix, during the toughest running contest of my life, I wasn’t stressed by the numbers. I was too busy keeping my eyes on the rocks and roots on the ground ahead of me and the sweeping mountainscape on the horizon.
I leaned into my trekking poles to make my way up the steep paths, my heart pounding and breath ragged as if I were moving three times as fast. This felt completely different than my years of experience on the road. Trail running helped to calm my anxious runner brain—and it could do the same for yours, too.
MY JOURNEY TO the trail was a frustrating one. Like lots of runners, I had reached a sticking point. I had taken on at least one major race a year since 2023, and I didn’t feel like I was getting any faster.
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