Running for Climbing: Comments on the Age-Old Debate

Googling "running for climbing training" pulls up a host of articles and Mountain Project forums debating whether running helps or hurts one's climbing. Many of my climbing partners found climbing in college after running cross country in high school, as did I, and still have an appreciation for exploring trails on foot, but how does this affect our climbing? I briefly weighed in on this topic this summer, in a post about "The Dangers of Trail Running," but here is my more complete answer to the question:

How does running affect my climbing?

Flashback to my high school running days when I couldn't have pulled 
myself up an indoor 5.9 if a pint of Ben and Jerry's depended on it. 

First, I should admit that I still enjoy running, though I'm no longer training for specific races. On beautiful fall days when I only have an hour break between classes, a jog through UNH's college woods or the community trails by my house gives me a much-needed study break. However, I don't consider my 30 minutes of cardio "climbing training." It's more meditative, a mental break that's different from that which I find while climbing. Thoughts slip, uninhibited, through my mind while I run, where everything but the next crimp and controlling my fear of falling is blocked out while I'm on a rope. However, I'm not training for a half-marathon or worried about how fast or long I run for. If I don't run for a few days, or weeks, it's okay.

In an article with Trail Runner magazine, Alex Honnold talks about how he too enjoys running as a faster means of exploring the trails around Yosemite and cross-training when he's unable to climb. He doesn't think that running helps his climbing and doesn't bother to get up early to get his miles in when he's focused on ascending routes on El Capitan, but, for him, it's a fun activity for rest or easier climbing days.

I find running helpful in keeping my base cardio level up for multi-pitch days and hauling 20-pound backpacks up approaches. If you're too tired after the approach to give your all into a climb, then walking all the way there isn't worth it. However, I don't use going for a run as an excuse not to train for climbing (I have many other excuses such as homework and elbow tendonitis for that one). I also don't run like I'm training for a marathon, as that will deplete my energy and ability to recover for climbing. 

For me, running between 30 and 40 minutes four to five days a week, if I'm doing no other cardio training, is the perfect balance of getting in a metal break and staying fit for approaches without tiring myself out too much to climb. Granted, I do have a four-year base of running cross country and track in high school, so, for me, running 20 miles a week is relatively easy and energizing. Light cross-training, such as going for a 30-minute jog, has also been shown to improve your recovery on climbing off days, but make sure you take at least one full day off each week to let your muscles recuperate—this is when you're building strength from your workouts. If you don't consider yourself a runner but want to test out training for approaches, then I'd suggest beginning with 9-10 mile weeks and proceeding from there based on how you feel. 

Overall, I don't believe running helps my climbing, especially when the approach is short. However, it does help my overall mental health and is a great activity to get out some of my extra energy and relieve stress when I don't have enough time to hit the gym or climb outside. I can also say with confidence that running isn't what holds me back from climbing harder routes; it's my mental game and lack of arm strength and perfect technique. So, if your life is better with a little running, then there's no reason to stop. Most of us don't climb professionally, so, as lifestyle climbers, we shouldn't spend every second of our day making choices based solely on whether or not something will help us send our project. Climbing is a healthy, enjoyable part of our lives, not the only part. But, on the flip side, if you hate running, there's really no reason, as far as your climbing is concerned, to start.