Trail Notes | Training & Technique

train with purpose

Four Key Workouts

for Ultra Running

Ultra training does not require every run to be long, hard or complicated. It requires the right sessions, used for the right purpose.

A strong ultra program develops several qualities at once. You need aerobic endurance to stay moving for hours, enough speed and strength to improve your capacity, and the durability to keep your form together when the trail becomes demanding.

That does not mean forcing every type of session into every week. For most runners, easy running remains the foundation. Quality sessions are added carefully, according to training experience, recovery and the demands of the event.

Workout 01

Easy aerobic and long running

Easy running builds the aerobic foundation of ultra performance. It develops your ability to use oxygen efficiently, manage energy over time and tolerate a gradually increasing volume of training.

The effort should feel genuinely sustainable. You should be able to speak in full sentences and finish with the sense that you could have continued. On a perceived exertion scale of one to ten, this is usually around two to four.

Long runs extend this work by adding time on feet, terrain practice, fuelling practice and mental familiarity with sustained movement. Their duration should match your current training history, not simply the distance of your goal event.

Workout 02

VO2 intervals

VO2 intervals improve your ability to work at a high aerobic intensity. For an ultra runner, this can make slower efforts feel more economical by lifting the upper end of your aerobic capacity.

These efforts are hard, but they should not become desperate sprints. The goal is to maintain repeatable quality across the session. Intervals of two to five minutes are commonly used, with easy recovery between repetitions.

Uphill intervals can reduce speed while maintaining cardiovascular demand, but they are not automatically safer or better for everyone. Choose terrain where you can move confidently and maintain good form.

Workout 03

Threshold and controlled tempo

Threshold training develops your ability to sustain a strong aerobic effort without tipping quickly into exhaustion. It sits below VO2 intensity and should feel controlled, focused and repeatable.

You may be able to speak in short phrases, but not hold a relaxed conversation. For many runners, 20 to 40 minutes of total threshold work is enough to create a useful training stimulus.

Threshold sessions can be performed on flatter terrain, sustained climbs or rolling trails. Pace will change with terrain, so use effort and movement quality rather than forcing a particular number from your watch.

Workout 04

Strength training

Strength training supports running economy, force production and tissue capacity. It helps prepare the body for climbing, descending, carrying equipment and maintaining movement quality as fatigue builds.

Research supports the use of high-load and combined strength methods for endurance runners. The exact dose should reflect your experience, available recovery and current training phase. For many runners, one or two well-designed sessions each week is more useful than frequent, unfocused gym work.

Strength work should complement your running, not leave you too sore to complete it. Where possible, place heavier strength work away from your long run and allow enough recovery before your next important session.

Race-specific development

Where steady running fits

Steady running sits between easy running and threshold work. It can help you practise sustained climbing, efficient movement and race-specific effort without turning the session into a threshold workout.

This work can appear as a 20 to 45 minute continuous block, several shorter blocks inside a long run, or sustained hiking on terrain similar to your event. It does not need to appear every week, particularly when overall training load is already high.

Female athlete note

Train the person, not the phase

Menstrual cycle symptoms can affect how some women experience training, but current evidence does not support applying the same phase-based training prescription to everyone.

Instead, track your own recurring patterns. Notice whether sleep, energy, pain, mood or perceived effort changes consistently at particular points in your cycle. Use that information to make individual adjustments when they are genuinely helpful.

Putting it together

You do not need every session every week

Most of your training should remain comfortable enough to recover from. A strict percentage does not suit every athlete or every phase, but easy running should clearly outweigh hard running across the broader program.

For many runners, one focused quality run per week is enough. Experienced athletes may sometimes use two when their training history and recovery support it. Remember that a long trail run is also a significant training load, even when the pace is easy.

The session is only half the work

Hard training requires adequate carbohydrate availability, hydration, sleep and space between demanding sessions. Repeatedly beginning quality workouts under-fuelled can reduce the quality of the session and make recovery more difficult.

If your performance, mood, sleep or menstrual cycle changes persistently, treat that as useful information. Training should be adjusted before fatigue becomes a deeper recovery problem.

The best ultra program is not the one that looks hardest. It is the one you can absorb, repeat and build upon.

strong enough for the long run

Train with Her Trails

General education only. Training should be adjusted for your experience, health, recovery and event demands. Seek qualified support if you are returning from injury or managing a health condition.