Fast Is Not the Point Speed sessions, specificity and what trail training is actually meant to rehearse
Trail Notes | Coaching Principles
Speed sessions, specificity and what training is meant to rehearse
Fast Is Not
the Point
Speed work is one of the most misunderstood parts of a trail and ultra program.
The word itself can send us straight to the track, to pace targets, to the idea that a session only counts if the watch says something impressive. But trail running asks a different question.
In trail and ultra training, quality work is not about being fast for its own sake. It is about applying the right stress, in the right terrain, at the right time, so your body adapts to the race you are actually preparing for.
Fast is not the goal. Time spent at the right effort is the goal.
Speed is one way to create training stress. On trails, it is rarely the only way, and often not the most useful one.
Trail Note · 01
Redefine speed
On trail, raw speed is not the full story. A long race may include steep climbs, hiking, technical footing, long descents, aid stations, heat, darkness, fuelling and hours of accumulated fatigue. Pace alone does not capture that.
A quality session is useful when it creates a specific adaptation. That may be a higher aerobic ceiling, a stronger threshold, better climbing economy, more control under fatigue, or the durability to hold form late in the race.
The goal is not a number. The goal is the adaptation the session is designed to create.
Trail Note · 02
Three kinds of quality, one easy base
Most trail and ultra runners do not need endless hard sessions. They need a deep easy base, then a few quality sessions that each have a clear job.
VO2max
The ceiling
Short, hard efforts often around 2 to 4 minutes at RPE 8 to 9. These can be useful uphill, where you get a strong cardiovascular load with lower speed and often less impact than flat-out running.
Threshold
The sustainable hard
Longer efforts often around 10 to 20 minutes at RPE 7 to 8. This is the controlled discomfort that helps raise what you can sustain without tipping too far into the red.
Steady state
The race rehearsal
Sustained work around RPE 6 on rolling, climbing or race-like terrain. This is often highly useful for trail and ultra runners because it rehearses rhythm, fuelling, climbing patience and durable effort.
Two non-negotiables sit underneath the quality work. Fuel sessions that are long enough or hard enough to need it, and leave enough recovery between hard days for the session to land.
Her Trails coaching cue
If you cannot say why a session is in the week, it should not be in the week. Hard is not a purpose on its own.
Trail Note · 03
Specificity: train the race you are actually running
Specificity is the principle that decides whether your quality work transfers to race day. Your race has a shape: terrain, vertical gain, duration, aid stations, technical demands, weather, fuelling and fatigue.
Good training rehearses that shape. If your race climbs, you need climbing. If it is technical, you need technical footing. If it lasts for hours, you need to practise moving, fuelling and making decisions when you are already tired.
For many trail and ultra runners, that means quality work often belongs uphill or on rolling terrain rather than always on the flat. It also means long runs gradually become more than distance. They become rehearsals for pacing, gear, food, hydration, terrain and patience.
Specificity asks
What terrain will I actually race on?
How much climbing and descending will I need to manage?
Will I need to hike strongly, not only run well?
How will I fuel while moving?
What will the race ask from me when I am already fatigued?
Specificity is honesty about your race. The course tells you what the training should look like.
Trail Note · 04
Durability matters more as the race gets longer
A high ceiling is useful, but ultras are not run by fresh athletes. They are run by tired athletes who still need to climb, descend, eat, drink, navigate, regulate effort and keep moving.
Durability is the ability to keep producing useful movement as fatigue accumulates. It comes from consistent easy volume, strength, long runs, race-specific terrain, sensible fuelling and enough recovery for the work to actually land.
The longer the race, the more durability becomes the performance skill.
Fitness matters. But the ability to keep using it after hours on feet matters just as much.
Trail Note · 05
Effort is the currency, not pace
If specificity is the principle, perceived effort is one of the most useful tools for applying it. On technical terrain, climbs, heat, mud or wind, pace can shift dramatically while the internal effort stays the same.
A pace target on a steep trail climb can become almost meaningless. Effort travels across terrain. It also travels across physiology: poor sleep, heat, stress, menstrual symptoms, perimenopause symptoms, illness and life load can all lift perceived effort at the same output.
Use RPE like information
When effort is higher than expected, adjust the pace, volume or recovery. That does not mean the session has failed. It means your body is telling you how to make the session land.
Trail Note · 06
The female physiology lens
Your physiology can influence how quality sessions feel and how well they land. Some women notice higher perceived effort, different heat tolerance, changes in sleep, appetite, gut comfort, mood or recovery across the menstrual cycle, during perimenopause, or during high-stress life seasons.
The goal is not to follow rigid phase rules. The goal is to notice your own patterns. Some women may feel more able to access sharper efforts earlier in the cycle. Some may need more conservative pacing, longer recoveries, reduced volume or more steady-state work in the premenstrual window. Others may notice little difference.
If you use hormonal contraception, have an irregular cycle, are postpartum, perimenopausal or menopausal, effort may be more useful than trying to map sessions to textbook phases. Your logbook becomes the source of truth.
Track what matters
How did the session feel compared to what was planned?
Did effort, heat, sleep, mood, gut comfort or appetite shift?
Did you recover within 24 to 48 hours, or did the session linger?
What adjustment would help this quality work land better next time?
You are not training around your physiology. You are training with the information it gives you.
Trail Note · 07
Specificity changes across the build
Specificity is not a fixed setting. It increases as you move closer to race day.
Early in a build, training may be broader: easy volume, strength, basic hill skills and steady running. Through the middle weeks, threshold and structured climbing can become more important. Later in the build, race-like long runs, terrain rehearsal, fuelling practice, gear testing and effort control become the priority.
As the race nears, the week should begin to look more like the day you are preparing for. That does not mean doing the full race in training. It means rehearsing the key demands without carrying unnecessary fatigue into race day.
Quality work earns its place when it has a job.
Fast is not the point. Specific, repeatable, well-fuelled effort is.
What to take away
Speed is a means, not the point. Quality work exists to create a target training stress, not to chase a pace.
Three quality categories are usually enough. VO2max, threshold and steady-state work each have a different job, layered over an easy base.
Specificity decides transfer. If your race climbs, you climb. If your race is long, you practise being tired.
Effort travels, pace does not. Anchor quality work to RPE, then adjust for terrain, heat, fatigue and physiology.
Your body gives useful data. Use cycle symptoms, sleep, mood, heat tolerance, appetite and recovery to refine how quality work lands.
Reflection prompt
What is this session actually rehearsing?
Is it building the race I am preparing for, or just making me tired?
Train the effort, not the ego
Written by the Her Trails coaching team
Trail Notes are evidence-informed coaching journals written for women who train, race and run on trails.
Go deeper inside Her Trails
Inside Her Trails programs, quality sessions are built with a purpose: terrain, effort, fuelling, recovery and race specificity. You are not just training harder. You are learning what each session is meant to rehearse.
General education only. This article is not individual coaching, medical or exercise prescription advice. Adjust training intensity, frequency and recovery to your current fitness, health, life load and injury history. Seek professional support if symptoms, fatigue or pain persist.
