Women’s Running USA – September 2019

How Hiking Made Me

A Better Runner BY JEN ATOR

W

hen I was first getting

into endurance run-

ning, I vividly remem-

ber how challenging

the weekly long runs were. Not from

a fitness standpoint, necessarily.

Sure, my muscles and joints felt the

impact of building up mileage. But

more than anything, it was the pent-

up restlessness I felt by trying to

slow down and simply endure them.

I was incapable of falling into a

rhythm. My splits were all over the

place. In my head rang a constant “are

we there yet?” impatience. I got through

them, but it wasn’t pretty—and I didn’t

enjoy it.

But let me tell you something: Noth-

ing, I mean absolutely nothing, com-

pares to putting a pack (especially a

heavy one) on your back and hiking

up the steep side of a mountain. It is

slowness in the most extreme.

I used to feel that same impatience

hiking; I’d try to power to the top quickly

as I could, “to get it over with.” But the

difference was clear: I couldn’t speed up,

even if I wanted to. I fatigued far more

quickly, even though I was moving far

more slowly.

Then in 2017, I got the chance to climb

Washington’s Mount Baker with Melissa

Arnot, an Eddie Bauer athlete who has

summited Mount Everest six times (the

most of any American woman). My eyes

were opened. She went so slowly, so

steadily. Each step was executed like a

strength exercise: plant foot, squeeze

glutes, push to extend forward. It wasn’t

a race to the top. It was an act of seeing

the bigger picture; it was an act of un-

bothered patience.

All of the typically touted benefits

of hiking are true: The time in nature

is invigorating, the time on inclines is

strengthening. But coming back from

that climb I found a new upside: It made

me a completely different runner.

Now that my body knew a completely

different level of “slow,” my long runs

didn’t drag in the same way. They felt

easier to get through. Almost instantly,

that “bigger picture” perspective clicked;

I started falling—physically and mental-

ly—into a steady, unrushed pace. And

those perks have continued. Hiking is

one of my favorite cross-training work-

outs. It builds my legs, lungs, and mental

strength, and puts an extra pep in my

step when it’s time to lace up and run.

CROSS-TRAINING CHRONICLES TRAINING

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