Training Considerations for Mountain Trail Races

Training Considerations for Mountain Trail Races

by | Mar 29, 2026 | Trail Running

By Higher Running Coach, Jake Head

Spring is approaching. The weather is getting warmer, the trails are opening up, and the trail-prone among us are scouring UltraSignup for our next mountain adventure. If you are anything like me, the steep, rugged, and remote events always seem the most appealing. If you find yourself on the entry list for one of these races, this article is for you!

Know Your Course

The first thing I have athletes do when preparing for a steep race is calculate the vertical gain per mile. This is simply the total vertical gain divided by the race distance.

For example, a 50k with 8,000 feet of vert averages about 250 feet of climbing per mile.

This number gives you a useful target when structuring your long runs. As you get closer to race day, your long runs should begin to approach the vertical density of your race. This helps your legs adapt not just to running long, but to climbing long.

It’s also important to look at how the climbing is distributed. 8,000 feet of vert spread across constant rolling terrain feels very different than the same vert concentrated into a few sustained climbs. Being familiar with the elevation plot of your race can be extremely valuable, not just for knowing where the hills are on race day, but also for knowing what kind of hills to look for in training to best mimic the race course.

Understanding your course helps you prepare specifically and feel confident on race day.

Run or Hike?

Many runners, especially those coming from road backgrounds, resist hiking. It can feel like giving up. But in steep trail races, hiking is often the most efficient option.

At steeper grades, the energy cost of running increases dramatically while providing very little speed advantage. For most runners, a 15–20% incline (roughly 800–1000 feet of elevation gain per mile) is where hiking is going to be a better choice. A strong, purposeful power hike can often match running speed while costing significantly less energy.

For reference, a sustainable running pace for me at a 15% grade is about a 14:00-minute-per-mile pace. I can power hike that same grade at roughly a 15-minute-per-mile pace, and it is significantly less taxing to do so. Unless your race’s climbs are very long, the time loss from swapping to a hike is often negligible, and you get to save your legs for downhill and flat sections.

Even elite trail runners hike steep climbs. This allows them to conserve energy and maintain steadier output over long races. But the key is making sure your hiking is intentional. A strong power hike (driving through the glutes, maintaining an upright posture, and moving efficiently) can make a massive difference over the course of a long climb.

If you know your race includes steep climbs, practice hiking during your training (contrary to popular belief, the Strava police won’t come for you if you hike during your “Morning Trail Run”).

How Much Vert Should You Be Doing?

A mistake I often see is runners either avoiding vert entirely or doing steep climbing every single day. Neither is ideal.

Your long runs and key workouts should include vert that reflects the demands of your race. Using our earlier example of 250 feet per mile, a 15-mile long run might include roughly 3,500 to 4,000 feet of climbing.

This doesn’t need to be exact. The goal is to gradually expose your legs to the demands of sustained climbing so race day doesn’t come as a shock.

At the same time, it’s important that your easier days remain easy. Steep climbing places significant stress on your calves, quads, and glutes, and it can be very difficult to climb at a true recovery heart rate. Including flatter runs allows your climbing muscles to rest and helps maintain good biomechanics. While running uphill builds strength and power that can help improve biomechanics, it can lead to an “ultra shuffle” type of running form if you never run flatter terrain and allow your stride to open up.

When planning your run routes, keep in mind the intention of the run and whether the route is conducive to the goal of that specific training session.

What If You Can’t Hit the Trails?

The treadmill is your friend! Cranking the incline up can be an extremely effective way to prepare for a mountainous race, especially if weather, schedule, or other factors prevent you from getting out on the trails.

A session I like to do is to look at the elevation plot of my race and try to recreate those climbs on the treadmill. For example, my goal race this year, Teanaway Country 100, has a 6-mile uphill on a forest service road at the start of the course, gaining about 2,000 feet. I can hop on the treadmill and do 6 miles at a 6–7% incline to create my own indoor version of that specific climb and get a good idea of how it feels.

Most treadmills max out at a 12–15% incline, don’t usually have the ability to decline, and are not going to test your balance like real trails do, so getting out on actual hills is still ideal when possible.

Don’t Neglect the Downhills

While climbs get most of the attention and are what runners often worry about the most, descents are often what determine how well you perform late in a race.

Downhill running places high eccentric loads on the quadriceps. This type of loading causes more muscular damage than climbing and is often what leads to the heavy, unresponsive legs many runners experience late in races.

The solution isn’t bombing every downhill in training, but gradually building tolerance.

One of my favorite workouts is pairing hard uphill efforts with controlled, faster descents. After a hard climb, running downhill at a steady but purposeful effort teaches your legs to handle the exact demands you’ll encounter in racing.

It doesn’t take much of this type of training to see significant benefits. Even a small amount of intentional downhill exposure can dramatically improve durability. This sort of training can also be risky and only needs to be done a couple of times in a training block to fully reap the benefits. Coach Sandi and Coach Sage wrote a whole article about it here: https://higherrunning.com/2025/10/

Trekking Poles

For races with sustained steep climbs, trekking poles can be incredibly helpful (check your race’s rules to make sure they are allowed, though!).

They allow you to distribute some of the workload to your upper body, reducing the strain on your legs and helping you maintain efficiency during long climbs.

If you plan to use poles on race day, it’s important to train with them beforehand. A common mistake I see runners make is not engaging their lats (the big muscles of the back) when using poles. Think about performing a lat-dominant movement like a chin-up or row. Your lats should be doing most of the heavy-lifting, and your arm muscles are just assisting. This goes for poles as well. If your lats are not engaged, it’s very easy to fatigue the muscles in your arms, as they are relatively small and weak compared to your lats. I have seen runners in steep races burn out their arms from improper pole technique, and it’s not pretty!

When choosing poles, make sure to get a light carbon-fiber Z-fold style specifically for running. Regular hiking poles are much heavier and are not quickly deployed or stored. Leki and Black Diamond both make excellent lightweight trekking poles specifically for running. Make sure you pick a pair that is fitted for your height!

Final Thoughts

Preparing for a steep mountain race can feel daunting, but with specific and intentional training, your body will adapt to what you need it to do. Do your homework on your race course, prepare intentionally, and you’ll be ready not just to survive your event, but to fully enjoy all the trail magic you’ll experience along the way.

Happy trails!

Coach Jake Head

Strength Training: The Flossing of Running?

Strength Training: The Flossing of Running?

by | Mar 5, 2026 | Uncategorized

We know, we know. Being told to incorporate strength training into your running is a bit like your dentist telling you to floss.

You already know it’s good for you. You already know you should be doing it. And yet… it’s usually the first thing to get skipped when life, mileage, or fatigue pile up.

Over the years, Coach Sandi Nypaver has seen enough patterns, both in her own training and in the athletes she coaches, to be convinced that strength training isn’t just “nice to have” for runners. It’s foundational. The trick is doing the right kind, at the right time, and for the right reasons.

Where Do You Even Start?

Saying “all runners should strength train” is easy. Executing it well is harder.

Before you load anything, bodyweight, bands, or external weight, you need the ability to move correctly. That means activating the right muscles and having enough mobility to actually access them. If you can’t hinge, stabilize, or rotate properly, strength work tends to reinforce compensation rather than fix it.

When I first started working with a strength coach, nearly the entire first month was foam rolling, lacrosse ball work, and mobility drills. No heavy lifting. No flashy exercises. And I was sore because I was suddenly able to use muscles that had been underperforming for years. That foundation changed everything that came after it.

What’s the “Best” Type of Strength Training for Runners?

There are plenty of effective approaches, but for most runners, especially those balancing volume, intensity, and real life, core strength consistently delivers the biggest return.

Core doesn’t just mean abs. It’s your glutes, hamstrings, obliques, lower back, and deep stabilizers. These muscles are central to posture, force transfer, and efficiency.

The good news: core work is practical. It can be done at home, requires minimal equipment, and doesn’t need to be long to be effective. The key isn’t novelty or complexity. It’s correct execution and consistency.

Many of my athletes rotate between two or three short routines. A handful of exercises done well, repeatedly, will do far more for your running than a long session where you’re just checking boxes.

Why It Actually Matters

Well-designed strength training can improve running economy by increasing muscle fiber recruitment and improving rate of force development. In simple terms: you get more output for the same effort.

It also helps maintain muscle mass and bone density, which becomes increasingly important as you age. And yes, it can reduce injury risk, but only if it’s done correctly. Poor form or poor muscle activation can reinforce faulty mechanics and create new problems instead of solving old ones.

Making Strength Transfer to Your Running

One common frustration: you get stronger in the gym, but it doesn’t automatically show up in your running.

Strength gains don’t transfer on their own, because you have to teach your body how to use them. That’s where activation exercises, drills, and intentional focus during runs come in.

Activation work before a run helps you feel the muscles you want to utilize better. During the run, make a conscious effort to tap into those same sensations. You won’t feel them firing as intensely as during strength work, but they should be present.

That’s how strength stops being something you do around running and starts becoming something that actively makes you a stronger, faster, more durable runner.

by | Feb 24, 2026 | Uncategorized

You paid for coaching. But you were still guessing.

In the past few years we’ve had runners come to us who were unsure whether coaching was really working for them.

They liked the idea of having a coach.
They invested in it financially.
But over time, something felt off.

They weren’t always sure how closely their workouts were being reviewed. They weren’t given clear pace ranges or guidance that reflected their current fitness. Feedback felt surface level or wasn’t there at all. There was no guidance on pacing, mindset strategies, or building a race day plan. Importantly, they never really understood why they were doing what they were doing.

There was no sense of a longer arc.
No conversation about how this training cycle fit into the next one.
No evidence that their coach truly knew them as an individual runner rather than one name on a long roster.

When that happens, it doesn’t just affect results.
It creates doubt.

Runners start questioning their training and wonder if they should just go back to guessing on their own. They worry about wasting more good training years by choosing wrong again.

That confusion is reasonable.

Thoughtful coaching is not about how many athletes someone has or large social media accounts.

It means engaging with your data and your feedback.
It means explaining decisions so you can learn and build confidence in the process.
It means planning with your long term development in mind, not just your next race.

If you still care about improving, staying healthy, and understanding your training, that hasn’t gone away. What you’re really looking for is a coaching relationship built on trust, communication, and individual attention.

Here’s a few things we’ve heard recently:

“This coaching experience is already so much better than I thought it was going to be.”
“I can tell you actually care, not just about my training, but about me.”
“You actually know how to coach. You’re not just giving me a custom schedule.”
“The advice you gave me was priceless. Good coaching is so much more than just a plan on paper. It’s shared wisdom, words, experience. I toed the line in such a good headspace this morning.”

Thoughtful coaching means engaging with your data and your context.
It means explaining decisions so you can learn and trust the process.
It means thinking beyond one race and toward who you’re becoming as a runner.
It means staying curious, continuing to learn, and approaching each athlete with individual attention.

If a previous experience made you question whether coaching is worth it, that hesitation is reasonable.

But we want to tell you that we care. And we combine that care with experience, expertise and a true love for wanting to help people reach their running goals while truly enjoying the process.

You’re probably misunderstanding Zone 2

You’re probably misunderstanding Zone 2

by | Feb 12, 2026 | Purpose of Different Runs, Training, Uncategorized

Zone 2 training has become one of the most discussed concepts in endurance running, and for good reason. Easy aerobic running is foundational.

But when runners say, “I trained in Zone 2 for a year and didn’t improve,” the issue is rarely a lack of patience or discipline. It’s usually a misunderstanding of how Zone 2 fits into the larger training picture.

Easy running supports aerobic development and plays an important role in building tissue resilience and durability. It allows adaptations to accumulate through repeatable, recoverable training.

For many runners, “Zone 2” aligns with easy, conversational running. But for higher-level athletes, spending too much time near the top of that range can quietly turn easy days into moderate ones and interfere with recovery.

What easy running does not do particularly well on its own is prepare you for the demands of racing.

Race performance depends on more than aerobic capacity. It requires efficiency at faster speeds, tolerance for higher metabolic stress, and the ability to coordinate force under fatigue. Those qualities are trained through targeted exposure to higher intensities.

That doesn’t mean hard workouts year round. It means that at some point in a training cycle, most runners benefit from introducing small, intentional doses of faster running. This can include strides, tempo or threshold work, and occasional VO₂max efforts. Each serves a different purpose, and together they complement the foundation built by easy mileage.

Easy miles make harder training possible.

Harder training makes fitness specific.

Where easy running matters most is when you’re building the ability to train.

If you’re newer to running, returning from time off, or rebuilding mileage, keeping most runs easy while gradually increasing volume is exactly the right focus. At this stage, easy running strengthens muscles and connective tissue, improves coordination, and raises tolerance for frequency and consistency.

But when weekly mileage is very low, easy running alone may not provide enough total stimulus to drive meaningful performance improvements, particularly for longer events like the half marathon and above. In those cases, progress often comes from a combination of consistency, gradual volume increases, and complementary stress such as short intensity work, strength training, or cross training.

The goal isn’t to rush fitness. It’s to expand what your body can handle sustainably.

The real value of Zone 2 isn’t that it’s a special or optimal pace. It’s that it allows you to train more, more often, without breaking down. By keeping mechanical, metabolic, and nervous system stress low, easy running makes recovery and repeatability possible.

That consistency is where long term fitness compounds.

As weekly volume becomes more sustainable, easy mileage creates room for quality work to actually do its job. Zone 2 isn’t about chasing a number or a philosophy. It’s about building training you can repeat week after week.

This Method of Setting Goals Can Work Wonders

This Method of Setting Goals Can Work Wonders

by | Jan 21, 2026 | Mindset Training, Uncategorized

by Coach Ray Nypaver

High-level performance isn’t just about pushing harder, but rather it’s about making better decisions under stress. The runners who improve year after year are the ones who can regulate effort, recover well, and adjust intelligently when training or life doesn’t go exactly as planned. Goals rooted in clarity rather than pressure lead to better consistency, lower injury risk, and more effective adaptation over time.

The framework below is designed to support both results and longevity. It keeps outcome goals in view while prioritizing the systems such as habits, mindset, recovery, and self-awareness that actually determine performance on race day. Whether you’re chasing a PR or aiming to stay strong and motivated for the long haul, this approach helps you explore what you’re capable of without burning out.

As we start 2026, and soon the year of the (fire) horse, Coach Ray Nypaver wants to make sure we’re setting ourselves up for success in the best way possible and using some scientifically backed research.

First and foremost, it’s important we revisit some of recent our pawsitivity posts:

(Shared on Instagram and Strava)

1) Love makes you brave: When our foundation is unconditional love, we have more willingness to both take risks AND no one it’s time to step back. We know when a goal that scares us a bit is a goal born through inspiration vs. a goal of the ego (I’m not enough as I am/ I need to prove myself). And no matter what, we know we’ll be okay, whether we succeed or fail (make a mistake to learn from)…which also settles our nervous system. And a relaxed nervous system actually helps us be our best selves.

2) Your job is NOT to reach your potential. Your job IS to explore the possibilities of your potential. For some of us, that will mean reaching what we are physically capable of. For others of us, it will mean we learn how to work with our negative thoughts and beliefs and turn towards compassion, which IS reaching our highest self.

Okay, now we can start goal setting:

*If you did each week of the Steps to Adventure plan with me, you’ll realize this is a summary of that, especially the Peak Goal Setting model in Step 5 (attached).

Why/(Big) Intention: Yes, we still want to have an understanding of why your goals are important to you, why they matter. While they don’t have to be profound, they should be deep enough to touch the heart.

It might be something like “I want to experience more joy in my life because I know the more joy I allow myself to feel, the more others in my life will give themselves permission to experience more joy too. And doesn’t the world need more joy?” Or more simply, “I want to experience more joy in my life, because I know I am worthy of it.” (If you do want to go profound, we could talk about the rates of depression in the world and how that is keeping good people from stepping up into their power and ability to influence with voices and hearts.)

The why comes from your heart.

Values: Know what you care about in life! Know your priorities! These will help ground you, especially if the mind/ego gets caught up in a goal. The paradox is, of course, that the more grounded we are the higher we can fly. Becoming attached to our goals puts us into a fear state. Shooting towards them with a loose grip and knowing what matters most in life keeps us inspired but relaxed. A relaxed nervous system means we have more energy to run and create.

Outcome goals: These are your race goals, PR goals, etc. Yes, these are important and we should absolutely set them… but truly, these goals are secondary. They are what inspire us to explore our potential, our energy, and what we can do with our energy in physical form. For those of you who have Instagram, Coach Sandi recently shared this: https://www.instagram.com/p/DTWC05-kQ6T/

 Outcome goals are mainly of the mind, but should be influenced by the heart.

Action Goal: These are daily and weekly habits or actions. (On a slightly bigger scale, these might be B races leading up to your A race). It could be running 3-5x each week, but for more of you, it’s more like getting in mobility 3-5x each week, asking yourself each morning before you run: What does my body need today? Or, I’m going to pat myself on the back each time I take 1 minute to practice diaphragmatic breathing during the day. (Little rewards, like acknowledging yourself, activate the reward center of your brain making it more likely that you’ll repeat the activity and increase self-esteem. Contrary to what we like to believe, self-judgment often has the opposite effect.)

Daily Intention: We have this reminder in one of our “Getting Started” boxes in Final Surge, and it’s a great way to make sure you’re not just going through the motions, keeping your love for running, and continuing to improve- even if it’s making sure your easy days are truly easy! It might be running based: I want to work on my form today, or technical trail practice, or a little more personal: I want to practice mindfulness and presence today, so when my mind wanders back to work, I’ll come back to my breath or surroundings. YOU CAN ALSO look back at your values and why, and integrate those more deeply. (From the therapy side of my job, I know I can write down and say all the things I’ve learned all I want, I know self-compassion is one of the best healing tools we have and I know negative beliefs can be composted and rewritten, but it doesn’t mean anything unless I actively integrate these lessons and practice them in my daily life.)

Obstacles: What obstacles do you see getting in your way on your path towards your goal, or potential? Is it a busy life? Work stress? Or knowing you have a tendency to push through fatigue and injury? We want to plan these out, but not without…

Plan How You Want to Work Through Obstacles: If you know you have a busy week coming up, you can coordinate with me/your coach, to have that be a recovery week in running. If you know you’re good at pushing through, maybe set a reminder on your phone that: Rest results in future growth and recovery allows for strength. We need the Yin and the Yang.

Of course, we can’t plan everything…but we can plan how we want to treat ourselves when things are hard and know who our support team is. At Higher Running, we hope you know that we care about each one of our athletes as people first, runners second.

Last, here’s a helpful, 7 minute meditation to get your goal setting started for the year:

Motivating Self-Compassion Break

(I’ve written enough for this email, but research now shows that self-compassion is beneficial to/can improve performance.)

Wishing everyone a beautiful, magical, and successful (how you choose to define it) 2026!