I'm not sure which type of track you are using-link & length, 1 piece vinyl, individual link plastic or metal-but I always start with painting the entire track a base coat of steel, then a heavy coat of a darkened version of the ground it will be on, then lightly drybrush the base color over the raised parts. Last but definitly not least I give the completed tracks a thinned wash of a black/light brown(dirty white if you are doing a winter scene). You will get the appearance of a used track with shiny steel showing where the track would contact the hard ground, and dirt & debris(and/or snow) packed into the hollow areas. I am not a pro at this seeing as I just returned to the hobby a couple of years back after a 25 yr absence, but I learned this method by doing exactly what you did-asking it here in FSM Forums.
Here are a few pics of a Panther tank in 1/35 I recently completed (1st tank since coming back) where I used a set of Friulmodel indi-link metal tracks. I used the above method on them and I was quite happy with the results.
I hope this helps, and to the dark side!