5 Reasons You Probably Should Not Start Trail Running

I’m sitting here thinking about all that 2025 has done to my long distance running experience…and I need to write this post to warn you about starting the habit of trail running.

See,  I liked running a little bit when I was younger and stronger.  But I liked running a lot less when my job made me run.  That running was done without much background, science or running instruction….so we ran as fast as we could for measured distances to make sure we were “healthy”, then we were done.  I didn’t do the greatest in these scenarios.

Then when I became much older….like in my -gasp- “50’s”, I started doing longer and longer trail running because I tried to fall back in love with it again.  But it’s just not the same for you and me….I’m warning you to think carefully about starting this habit/hobby because it may become a lifestyle and take over.  Here’s some reasons you should be careful before you start longer distance trail running:

1. Off Grid/Into Nature/Tree Bathing:  Pretty touchy feely huh!  I think you should definitely consider staying the heck away from trail running because you might start to hear terms like these about trail running or….you might just start gaining energy from the trees and forests themselves as you trail run more and more….and start to love it.  Or….you might actually fall in love with tree bathing yourself.  Stay Away….Far Away.

2. Talking about trail running:  2025 was the year I’ve had the chance to talk to knowledgeable people about trail running.  This year I had the opportunity to go to a trail running camp and I was able to spend the weekend stay with a couple focused trail runners.  These provided me with the opportunity to ask some of my more esoteric questions of real people and learn more and more about the sport from real people who are performing at high levels, pushing me to get better.  So…seriously, if you don’t like to discuss running or trail running as a topic of conversation, you should probably stay out of the sport.

3. Healthy Outlook:  I think you should run away if you don’t think you’ll find a healthier outlook on life after doing just a few hours of trail running and definitely after your first Ultramarathon.  Healthy outlook on life, body confidence, upbeat motivation……phsatttsatt- that’s for tree hugging veggie eaters….right!

4. Yoga, Strength Training, Running, Cold Plunge, High Altitude Training:  Yeah man, who wants to use this trail running stuff to get healthy, be healthy and turn dead sexy anyways….right.  I mean….fuck it’s a lot of work and discipline to actually start a schedule and stick with it.  It’s harder if you hire a coach who keeps you on a schedule and makes you start doing things that hurt and take you out of whatever comfort zone you have…..like  techy sounding things- intervals, fartlek, strides….split times.  I mean, it’s tough to think through all this and have enough confidence to know you can do it all….most runners are all lean and perfect and fast right?  Don’t do it….tell yourself to stick to the couch in the warm house and the overachievers can do it all!

5. Coach, Fancy Shoes, Races that cost money:  Skip it…the myth of running with just a pair of old shoes is too true, but as you continue to trail run you might want to get a pair of trail shoes, a coach to show you how fucking slow you are and then find out you can’t actually get into that race you want to….cause you are too slow.  So….skip all this stuff and just sit by the fire and think about who you could be if you went out and did something, even if you suck at it.

Now that you’ve read my reasons for NOT starting to trail run, I hope you realize how much in jest they are.  I think ALL of you should consider going for a run and then trying out a trail run in January 2026.  After that, the sky is the limit. 

The author is a very, very slow trail runner who ran one Ultramarathon in 2025 and DNF’ed.  But also in 2025 the author was invited to his first trail running camp where he met lots of awesome athletes and was inspired to continue training.  Out of this camp, I was able to hire a patient coach…and as a family we did a killer roadtrip to stay with friends who trail run.  The weekend visit provided inspiration to start running and training harder- thank you Lake Tahoe!