In the past few weeks, we’ve delved into the world of trail running. We provided a beginner’s guide to trail running, focused on the importance of hill training, and discussed why strength training is crucial for trail runners. In this blog, we’ll go a step further with tips for advanced trail runners.

1. Hill Score

Every brand of wearables has this kind of functionality in their premium wearables. I focus specifically on Garmin because that's the one that I know best. The ‘Hill Score’ gives you a specific overview of your elevation gain, making it a handy training tool. Previously, I explained how you can build up elevation gain, this score makes it tangible. You can see how many elevation meters you made in the past 4 weeks, to build this up gradually. Garmin automatically recognizes uphill sections (from 2% and upwards) and uses these for their calculations.

The score is based on:

• Endurance (of all your training volume, how often/long did you run uphill?)

• Strength (how fast do you run uphill? A hilly tempo run results in a higher score than a hilly recovery run).

• VO2max

Because you see all these details in a graph, you know what to focus on. In your Garmin Connect app, you can see this evolution over periods of 12 weeks or even one year. For those who want to conquer a lot of D+, this is a handy function.

2. Grade Adjusted Pace (GAP)

This connects to the previous point, but I find it even more useful! Grade Adjusted Pace is the translation of “if I were running flat, how fast would I be running?”. In other words, it helps you avoid running too fast uphill (or too slow downhill). Our internal processor can sometimes miscalculate and push too hard uphill, which isn’t ideal (due to higher energy spend). GAP is the ultimate tool to link to our ‘terrain adjustments’ feature.

It’s one of the metrics I standardly add to one of my screens during a run (since I live in hilly Haspengouw, my runs are often not flat).

3. Don’t Underestimate: Eat More Than Enough

As mentioned in earlier blogs: when trail running, you’re out longer out there. Expert advice from personal experience: eat more than enough. Literally. To perform maximally, aim for 60g of carbs per hour as a runner (more is often difficult because we’re not on a bike), but that’s insufficient if you’re hitting the trails for hours.

High-calorie food – hopefully in more pleasant forms than gels – is very welcome. The hours you spend trail running mean fewer non-trail hours that day. During those non-training hours, you have more space/ease to eat. Since that share becomes smaller, you need to consume those calories during your trail hours. While trail running, you can opt for 'real', thus solid, food, because pace is secondary.

I made this mistake during a group trail where the pace was much lower than what I could handle conditionally. We were out for 4 to 5 hours, and I didn’t compensate for the ‘lost’ day hours. Despite the lower conditional load, I still arrived empty.

4. An Extra Pair of Trail Shoes, One Size Larger

Okay, weird advice, but a practical example from one of my private athletes. When you, like him, hit the mountains for about 100 kilometers (I know!), all logic changes. A mountain (ultra) trail often starts in a valley and thus often finishes in a valley. Practically, this means the last part of the race contains many descending kilometers. Your feet, however, have done their best to swell, which makes descending no fun. Besides all the mandatory items from the organization, he also carries an extra pair of trail shoes (provided during personal supply). That second pair is a size larger – too large in normal circumstances, but ideal for descending towards the finish.

5. Simulate the Night!

Continuing from the previous example: when you trail for so long (100km), you don’t always run in the sunshine and certainly not always in daylight. Besides all the gear-related matters (waterproof jackets, headlamps, etc.), other practical things also come into play. How comfortable am I running in the dark? Well, you need to test that. Leave late in the evening or early in the morning for a training session that takes place (mostly) in the dark. Besides seeing the reflective eyes of all the animals, this will be a very useful experience towards your goal.

Oh yes: a headlamp is a must for trail runners, not a chest lamp. You want to see where you are going when you turn your head.

Conclusion

With these 5 tips for advanced runners, you are even better equipped to take on the trails! These tips are given from my perspectives as a coach and runner. Use them wisely and don’t make the same mistakes that led to these insights in others.

There is one more blog to follow in this series of ‘Hitting the Trails’, where I will explain why you should continue to check off all types of training – and not just hilly LSDs!