The Trail Running Briefing

Training hard has its place, but harder is not always better. In this episode, we explore why the real value of a session is not just in the stimulus it provides, but in the recovery cost it creates. For trail and ultra runners, going too hard too often can quietly reduce consistency, compromise quality, increase injury risk, and leave you too fatigued to absorb the training that actually matters....

Downhill running is one of the most damaging parts of trail racing, not because it is aerobicly hard, but because it places heavy eccentric load on the muscles, especially the quads. In this episode, we explain why downhill running creates so much soreness and fatigue, and why the solution is not to avoid it, but to train it progressively. The key idea is that downhill training should be treated l...

In this episode of The Trail Running Briefing , we explore one of the most important but misunderstood ideas in endurance training: you often run faster by slowing down more often . Many runners make the mistake of pushing too hard on easy days, turning most of their training into moderate effort and limiting recovery, consistency, and performance. This episode explains why truly easy running is e...

In this episode of The Trail Running Briefing , we unpack why Zone 3 is one of the most misunderstood training intensities in endurance sport . Often dismissed as “junk miles” or the “grey zone,” Zone 3 is frequently criticised simply because many runners use it by accident rather than with a clear purpose. This episode explains why that view is too simplistic, especially for trail runners and mas...

This episode explains fuel utilisation in simple terms: your body is always using a mix of fat and carbohydrate , but the harder you run, the more you rely on carbs . The key message is that many runners don’t “blow up” because they forgot to eat, they blow up because their pace created a higher carbohydrate demand than their fueling plan could support. The episode uses a simple mental model of tw...

In this episode, we unpack why lactate threshold is one of the most useful predictors of ultra performance, not because you race at threshold, but because it sets the ceiling for what “sustainable” feels like for hours. A higher threshold means your steady effort costs less energy, surges hurt less, and you drift into the red less often on climbs, headwinds, heat, and technical sections. You’ll le...

Motivation is a mood, it comes and goes. Consistency is a system, it keeps you training even when life gets messy. This episode explains why relying on “feeling like it” leads to stop-start training, and why the runners who improve most are the ones who reduce friction, pre-decide their sessions, and protect a minimum standard on low-energy days. You’ll learn practical tools like a “minimum viable...

VO₂max measures your maximum aerobic capacity, but ultra races are not performed anywhere near that intensity. What decides performance is not how big your “engine” is, but how efficiently and sustainably you can use it for many hours. Ultra success depends on factors like lactate threshold, aerobic efficiency, fueling tolerance, muscular durability (especially for long descents), and disciplined...

Intensity can drive quick improvements in trail running performance but only for a short time. Hard sessions create a strong training signal, yet they also generate fatigue faster than they build fitness. At first, fitness gains are visible; over time, accumulated fatigue masks those gains, leaving runners feeling heavy, flat, and slower despite training harder. The mistake many runners make is re...

Most ultra runners don’t lose races on the climbs—they lose them on the descents. In this episode of The Trail Running Briefing , we break down why downhill running causes so much damage despite feeling easy at the time. You’ll learn how eccentric muscle loading silently destroys the quads, why this fatigue is delayed and deceptive, and why cardiovascular fitness alone won’t protect you late in an...

This episode explores a common frustration among runners: increasing training volume or intensity, yet feeling slower, heavier, and less fit. The key message is simple, fitness doesn’t come from training itself, but from recovering from training . Using a clear mental model, the episode explains how training creates fatigue, and recovery is what allows adaptation and improvement. When training loa...