My running spirit animal is the turtle so I guess it fits.
I was running on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia recently and was about three miles into my run when I passed another runner. We did the runner thing with a “how ya doin’?” and head nod and then I scooted around him.
I was doing a loop of the Three Ridges Summit where I ran the AT to Maupin Shelter and then catching the Mau Har Trail back to my car in the parking lot of The Priest section just off Virginia State Highway 56.
Less than a mile from my turn-around I ran into the same runner. This time we stopped and he gave me what I am going to take as a compliment…I think.
“Damn dude, you’re the fastest hiker I’ve seen on this section of the trail!”
We exchanged names and that night at camp I Strava stalked him and realized he owns the fastest times for a number of segments on the Appalachian Trail and is local legend on a bunch more. He is what most people would call a, “real trail runner”, with some podium finishes to his credit in ultra-marathons also.
I, meanwhile, do not own any fastest times on Strava segments and most likely never will. I’ve never been on top of the podium after a race and most often I’m crossing the finish line as the volunteers are breaking down everything and waiting for us “back of the pack” runners to finally finish up so they can go home.
I’m still finishing really long runs all the time, but I do not finish them quickly. Perhaps this is why his statement made me feel things that I really shouldn’t be feeling.
Why get angry or offended at something that very well could be true?
Maybe I’m not really an ultra-runner and just an ultra-hiker?
After a weekend of 15-mile, 22-mile and 14-mile runs on the Appalachian Trail, I thought I would be much happier. Instead, I was still trying to process the “fast hiker” thing.
Is It Okay to be a Speed Hiker?
Once I got back home and was able to get a nice hot shower instead of a cowboy shower in a creek, I began to process this whole “hiker versus runner” head-dilemma I was going through. I say “head dilemma” because I don’t think anybody else even knew I was feeling slightly inferior for a bit.
I found a great article on the website, www.deepertrails.com, that began to help me out a bunch. “Speed Hiking vs. Trail Running: Major Comparisons” has helped me sort through the feeling of inferiority I was going through and realize being a speed hiker isn’t a bad thing.
More than anything, it just may be misunderstood by the running community in general.
I love the way Deeper Trails defined speed hiking: “any distance of trail navigation done faster than a walk, but slower than a run, where additional gear isn’t necessarily required.”
When I hit the Appalachian Trail or any trails really, I go with a hydration pack that has extra room for emergency gear in case a freak rainstorm or snow storm sneaks up on me. For emergency equipment, I carry a water filter, a mylar blanket, stocking cap and gloves. I also pack a couple of small bags of granola for quick nutrition in case the path takes longer than I originally planned. In the front pockets of my pack I carry my trail nutrition to get me 5-8 hours of running, salt tablets, and my own trail mix I created that sits well when I am “trail running”.
I suppose I may be a “speed hiker” on ascents. I almost never even try to run ascents. Small ascents I will run at a slow pace, but the majority of ascents I am fast hiking (or speed hiking) at a 15–20 minute per mile pace. If the trail gets really technical and uphill, that can slide to a 18–25 minute per mile pace. If I am on mile 30 and have another 10 miles to go, a technical uphill can slide all the way to a 30 minute per mile pace.
But I do run nearly all downhill sections, except those really technical ones with lots of rocks and/or roots. These I will skip through at a 12–15 minute per mile pace. It’s just not worth it for me to go fast and possibly mess up an ankle and not be able to run because I’m rehabbing an injury.
Trail runners are much quicker than I am in a lot of sections of ultra-runs and my goal is to be sure I make up time on the uphill sections of races. Often I end up passing many trail runners because they are hiking and I am going at the same and sometimes faster pace than I train.
Duration is probably where I win out over a lot of trail runners. I can string together back-to-back-to-back twenty and thirty mile days. Many trail runners I know are happy with a twenty mile day followed by a ten mile day and a rest day in between. I had a two-week segment earlier in the summer where I did runs of over twelve miles every day for the entire two weeks.
Granted, I complete my runs much more slowly than most. However, my body is less beat-up and thus I am able to out-endure many other “real” runners.
“Intent” is the part of the article where much of the difference comes in. When I am out running trails, this is my happy place. The John Muir quote always comes back to me when I begin a trail run. “Into the forest I go, to lose my mind but find my soul.”
My intention for a trail run is to get away, to separate from day-to-day life and to find that part of me that always feels better after a foray into the wilderness.
There’s another John Muir quote that best describes my intention, “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.”
I want to move across the trail quickly, but I also do not want to miss the scenery. I take pauses to just stand and take in the beauty that surrounds me.
Then I pound dirt once again. Most trail runners I know couldn’t tell you what that vista looked like. They couldn’t describe the blue of the hills that describes why the mountains of Virginia are often called the “blue ridges”.
At Peace with “Speed Hiker”
There is a place for others like me whose spirit animal is the turtle. You don’t have to move fast or be equipped with the best technical gear to be a speed hiker.
I can get on a trail in khaki shorts and an old t-shirt and look like a total nerd and go out and rip off a good twenty mile trail run. Armed with my pack full of water and some snacks, I am going to get great exercise and see some amazing beauty.
I’ve made peace with being called a speed hiker.
I know I’ll never own a course record on a Strava segment nor become a local legend. I rarely run the same route twice, but am always seeking new routes and new trails to go get lost on.
If you get discouraged because you’re not out there ripping off seven-nine minute miles, don’t worry. You’re probably an awesome speed hiker who is going to get more joy from your time in the mountains than many of the runners out there who are racing through segments and missing the beauty.