2.11. Training Program
The training program started with 3 training sessions per week in weeks 1–3. Each training session had a duration of 22–36 min (which was the standard range throughout most of the 8 wk intervention) of running interspersed with 2 min walk rest periods. Novice participants progressed to 4 running (with prescribed intermittent walking) sessions per week in weeks 4–6 with 2-min walk breaks before gradually omitting the walk breaks in week 7 and finishing the program at the end of week 8 with a 45 min continuous run (i.e., their 4th run of week 8). Exercise training started for each participant after the pretest and was performed individually on self-selected outdoor trails (i.e., TRAIL) and roads (i.e., ROAD) at a perceived exertion of 3–4 on Borg CR-10 (although the average RPE approached “5” for both groups upon end analysis). Each participant was provided with a running log in which they recorded training duration, perceived exertion levels, location, and estimated percentage of each session on TRAIL or ROAD. Actual training loads for both groups are summarized in 