What my trail athletes do every fall to keep improving

What my trail athletes do every fall to keep improving

by | Oct 20, 2026 | Trail Running, Training, Uncategorized

For a lot of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the main trail season is wrapping up. Snow is starting to cover the high trails here in Colorado, and it’s the perfect time to pause and look back.

Every fall, I have my athletes carve out a little time to reflect on the past year. When we don’t stop, it makes it difficult to see what’s working and what we need to improve upon.

The main question I want you to ask yourself is this: What worked well for me in my training and racing this year, and what areas could I improve upon?

I ask myself the same question every fall too. I’m naturally better at endurance, so I always find I need to work on speed and power. Living at 7,000 feet adds to that, since I can’t run as fast as I could at sea level. That’s why I touch up on speed more aggressively in the winter than I do in the warmer months, when I’m training for longer races.

On the other side, downhills used to be one of my strengths. When I set the old course record at The Rut 50K, part of it came from my technical downhill running. After an odd injury/form issue (a story for another day), getting back to being as fast as I want on the downhills has been more of a challenge. So that’s on my list this winter too.

Figure out your gap

Think of what you need to improve as a gap you want to close. Think back on your races this season…

Were you always getting passed on the downhills? Did you really struggle with power hiking? Was it the flatter, runnable sections where you felt like you weren’t moving well? Was it nutrition or hydration? Did your body start breaking down late in races? Or did injuries keep getting in the way?

Write down what comes up. You might find more than one, and that’s normal, but identify your priorities.

Recover first

Before you start working on anything, make sure you’re recovered, physically and mentally.

What that looks like is very individual. Some of our athletes take a few weeks totally off running. They go mountain biking, go on short walks, do yoga, etc. Others get back into easy running a bit sooner, but they’re not really training yet. They’re running simply because they enjoy it and want to be outside.

You’ll know you’re ready to get back to training when you feel good mentally and physically, and you’re genuinely excited to get back into it because you love the training.

Make a plan to close your gap

Maybe you can’t start working on your gap right now. That’s okay. You can still decide when you’ll start and what you’ll do. Here are some ideas for each one.

Downhills. Scan ahead instead of looking down at your feet. Think about landing with your feet underneath you. Learn to open up on less steep, less technical downhills first, then bring that to the steeper stuff.

Power hiking. Strength training can help, especially step ups and Bulgarian split squats. If you don’t have access to big climbs, find a treadmill with an incline or a stair stepper. Then practice hiking on purpose. Even when you feel like you could run a climb, power hike it if that’s a climb you’d be hiking in an ultra.

Flat speed. Look for flat road races you could do this winter, and follow a training plan that gets you ready for them. I’ve had a few ultra athletes do exactly this. When they got back into ultras, they felt like they had a gear they didn’t have before.

Nutrition and hydration. Set aside time to learn more about fueling and hydration strategies, then practice them on your long runs this winter. If you still can’t figure it out, work with a sports dietitian.

Durability. If you’re breaking down late in races, figure out why first. It could be pacing, strength, volume, or your legs not being used to long descents. Where you live matters here too. If you’re somewhere snowy, dark, and cold, and building volume or doing big long runs and downhills isn’t realistic, strength training is a great place to focus. If you live somewhere warmer, like parts of California, Arizona, or other southern states, winter could be the perfect time to look at how your long runs and weekly volume are structured.

Injuries. If you keep getting injured or just have little niggles that keep popping up, make the time to work with a physical therapist who’s used to working with athletes.

There’s no one right way to close your gap

You still need to put in the work on your gap, but how you do that can look really different from one runner to the next. If you look at successful trail runners, what they do in the winter is drastically different. Some do skimo for months. Some put up fast times on the roads. Some cycle, and many put a bigger focus on strength.

I tend to go with the seasons. I love mountain running and big vert days, but a lot of our best mountain trails are covered in snow in the winter. Doing out-and-backs on hills or convoluted loops just to get the vert in gets boring for me after a while. I love mountain running for the adventure of it and doing out-and-backs on hills doesn’t feel very adventurous to me. Even though they’re on pavement, faster speed workouts feel more exciting to me in the winter, and they’re exactly how I work on my speed gap. And I get my mountain fix ski touring, which is a great way to build easy aerobic volume and can replace some easy runs.

However, I know people who love doing out-and-backs on their local hills all winter. For them, it’s almost meditative. It’s easy to look at one elite and think “this is the way to do it,” but the best approach is a little different for everybody. What matters is finding the approach that closes your gap and keeps you excited to train.

Want help with your plan?

If you’re not sure where to start, Coach Jake has a few openings for 1:1 coaching.

Jake is a certified ultrarunning, nutrition, and strength coach. He trained with Higher Running as an athlete for several years before joining our coaching team, which means he knows our coaching philosophy inside and out, and he genuinely cares about doing his best for every athlete he works with.

Our coaching spots are starting to fill up, so even if you’re not ready to start for another month or so, feel free to reach out now.

Learn more about Jake at higherrunning.com/jake-head, or fill out our contact form to see if it’s a good fit.

Coach Sandi

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

by | Aug 23, 2026 | Trail Running, Uncategorized

Last year, Sage and I were coming down from Maroon Peak, a class three fourteener outside Aspen, when we crossed paths with two hikers who were clearly struggling. It turned out they were supposed to be doing the Four Pass Loop, one of the most iconic and well-traveled routes in Colorado, but they’d taken a wrong turn and ended up climbing Maroon Peak instead.

 

If you don’t know Maroon Peak, it’s extremely steep, even before you hit the actual class three section, and it’s the kind of terrain where it’s very easy to lose your footing and slide. Not seriously exposed exactly, but steep and loose enough that a mistake there has real consequences.

These two had big backpacks on, clearly geared up for a multi-day loop, not a technical peak, and they were struggling badly just trying to move upward. We stopped and turned them around, and stayed with them for a bit as they headed back down. Going down with them was scarier than watching them try to go up because we could tell they were terrified of slipping and getting seriously hurt.

There was no sign at the junction where the couple made the wrong turn, so Sage and I reached out to the people who manage that trail system and asked if they could add one. The trail up Maroon Peak actually looks like the more obvious route, even though the Four Pass Loop is one of the best-known loops in the whole state. The response we got was that other people had made the same mistake and had even needed to be rescued, but that people need to be more prepared. They should know better.

I can understand that instinct after living in the mountains for years, but here’s the thing. Not everyone grows up in Colorado. Not everyone has someone in their life who taught them how to read a mountain, what to pack, what questions to even ask before heading out. When you’re new to something, you genuinely don’t know what you don’t know, and that’s not a character flaw, it’s just where you’re starting from.

I first came to Colorado soon after I graduated from college. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and most of my trail running experience came from Cuyahoga Valley National Park, where the trail systems were clearly marked, there were usually plenty of people around, and most routes even had water fountains. When I got to Colorado, I knew nothing, and I made a ton of mistakes. I could look back now and think about how stupid I was, but really, I wasn’t stupid, I just had no clue what I was getting into or what I needed to learn to be safe. It took getting to know more experienced people and making some mistakes of my own to learn how to safely navigate the mountains.

We post beautiful photos and videos from these trails, and they really are beautiful and freeing. But actually being out there, especially somewhere remote and technical, can be intimidating and disorienting, particularly if nobody’s ever shown you the ropes.

Even experienced road runners can feel like beginners when they start tackling mountains. Balancing training volume, speed work, and significant vertical gain requires a different approach than training on flatter terrain. If you’re new to trail running, there’s also a learning curve with things like using poles effectively, figuring out how to run uphill efficiently, and becoming more comfortable and confident on technical descents. That can be a really fun part of trail running. There’s always something new to learn and get better.

 

This is exactly what our coaches at Higher Running are here for. We help people feel genuinely prepared, whether that means understanding mountain safety and navigation, learning to move confidently on technical terrain, or figuring out how to train effectively for the unique demands of mountain running.

We’re not here to judge anyone for where they’re starting from. We just want people to actually enjoy their time in the mountains, because happy people out there tend to become people who want to protect these places too. That’s better for them, and it’s better for the world.

So whether you’re finishing out this mountain season or already thinking ahead to next year, we want you to feel confident out there, not just hopeful. Reach out to Higher Running and let’s get you prepared, not just inspired.

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