Hey Reader!

Happy Easter!!!

There have been quite a few new subscribers recently, and I wanted to take a moment to welcome you all and say thank you for letting me hit your inbox every Friday with training tips, mental strategies, running news, and my general running and life thoughts!

I appreciate you all taking the time to read this when there is already a lot of information out there.

This newsletter is part labour of love, part resource for my athletes, and part comprehensive how-to for all areas of running that I love putting together every week. Roughly three hours of research, over ten years of coaching, and my ongoing learnings contribute to it, with the aim of helping you run strong, faster, and unlock your potential.

And my inbox is open to your questions. As a thank you for subscribing, along with my goal to help where I can, send me a question and I'll happily respond – it might even inspire a future edition.

With that, welcome legends!

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How to train for trails without any

You’ve signed up for a trail race… but you live in the city, surrounded by concrete paths and zero elevation. Should you panic? Not even close.

You dream of mountain tops, flowing singletrack, and the smell of wet pine. But access is limited — maybe because you live in the city, or out on flat farming land where the only change in elevation is the curve of the earth on the horizon.

Easy logic might suggest you stick to the roads. Maybe find some gravel and call it good. But here’s the thing: that’s not your only option.

Trail training is more accessible than you think.

Let's reframe the problem

Most runners think they need to run on trails to train for trails. But trail running demands more than terrain — it demands control, strength, and resilience. And you can build all of that in the city.

Becoming a good trail runner requires you to become a good runner. It doesn't matter if we are talking about developing your running economy (the energy/oxygen cost of running a given pace), your running efficiency (how well you transfer energy into the ground), improving a threshold, or the mental training aspect; running is running.

We couldn't go to an edition without me saying running is running, could we!

Don't get me wrong, there are some considerations that require you to train on trails. Becoming a good technical runner or preparing for the technicality of the terrain you wish to run on is very difficult, but I will address this later.

So, knowing that all is not over your dreams of doing a trail event, or simply wanting to feel stronger on your next adventure holiday, here is what you can do to get trail-ready...

Key trail training strategies

1. Treadhill

The obvious thing when we think of trails is hills. Big hills, little hills, unrelenting hills... whatever the type, trails go up!

So, you need to as well.

When building strength for the trails, there is a specificity for uphills that needs practice, specifically from a muscle endurance perspective, or what we've called durability/fatigue resistance.

Getting used to running at various effort levels on a 10-20% gradient (depending on what the treadmill you have access to allows) will massively increase the strength of your posterior chain – lower back, glutes, hamstrings, calves, Achilles – and prepare you for the mental and physical challenge of running uphill for sustained periods of time.

One of my coaching preferences is to add a steady effort uphill treadmill at the end of a normal run.

For example: 60 min Easy + 15 mins ~ 15% @ 6-7 RPE (Rating of Perceivied Effort)

Why do I do this? Because running on the treadmill for 75 minutes is incredibly boring for 99% of the people I coach, and I don't want them to dread a training session. It needs to have at least a bit of fun! Also, the 60 minutes serves as pre-fatigue for the treadmill, meaning your muscles have already worked and metabolically there has been some ramping up.

For advanced athletes, I will place this 15-minute block at the end of a workout to further simulate the fatigue present during an event. However, for most people reading this, just keep it simple.

And, you can add this on at the end of a long run, or even in the middle!

Essentially, aside from doing your sessions on the hills, which are great for building power, strength, and reducing the impact forces on your body, try to get creative.

2. Strength Training

I’ve gone on (and on) about the value of strength training — and for good reason. Click here to read the article.​

In addition to movement-specific heavy exercises, such as step-ups, we want to focus on developing our eccentric quad strength (downward, lengthening phase) and our ability to absorb force.

Eccentric exercises include:

• Tempo squats – where you are making the lowering phase take 3 to 5 seconds
• Bulgarian split squats – these elevate your rear foot and increase the focus on the quads
• Step-downs – be it a lateral step-down off a box, or a Poliquin/Peterson/Paterson variety, they are great for strength and control
• 2-Up-1-Downs Leg Extension – focusing on the downward part, making this heavy
• Farmers/Suitcase Carries – These heavy carries are great for developing postural resilience and leg strength

Force absorption exercises include:

• Tall-to-Shorts – an early-stage exercise, helpful in rehab, but also for single-leg stability
• Depth drops – Stepping off an increasing height and absorbing the impact is repeatable time after time on trails
• Rear foot elevated depth drops – a mix between a Bulgarian and a depth drop

3. Technical training

As I mentioned earlier, replicating the technical demands of trials is actually tricky. Point 4 will elaborate on this further. However, there are ways to strengthen the foot, ankle, and improve stability and proprioception without on-trail practice:

• Agility ladder drills – great for proprioception and improving our running mechanics
• Hopping – using multi-directional options like lateral and diagonal, forward and backward. Even onto a soft surface
• Bounding – same as above, just from one foot to the other rather than the same foot
• Different surface type – run on grass, sand, or any variable surface you can get access to

These don't just need to be small movements, either. Make them explosive, forcing you to control a higher amount of force and use it with a change of direction—this simulates rock hopping, for example.

4. Training Weekend

At the end of the day, nothing beats the real thing... So, if it is within your means, put a weekend or two aside and train on the course. If you are newer to trails, then maybe this isn't needed, but if you really have no trail access at all, then I would really recommend putting the time and money aside.

Why?

1. As we just said, the best way to get technically better at trails is to run on them
2. There is something called the repeated bout effect, and this is specifically important for downhills. Ideally, you want to incorporate two to three significant downhill stimuli that are longer, steeper, and/or faster than the race to condition the quads, spaced out by a week or two. The first one will cook you, so don't go too crazy on length or speed. By the second, you'll be a bit less sore. By the third, your legs will be conditioned and ready for event day!

If this isn't practical, then choose a few training races where you spend time on trails and run hard as the training weekend stimulus!

Location isn't a limitation

For example, one of the guys I coach, Brock, lives somewhere that does have some trails, but it's all coastal and so not very hilly at all. A 20km run might get 500m, and that's him really trying!

As he trained for a 56km run called Bogong 2 Hotham that has 3500m of elevation gain, we used targeted strength sessions and the treadmill after certain runs to build the trail specificity needed.

The outcome? He had a fantastic run, felt strong throughout the day, and, most importantly, entered the event feeling confident about what lay ahead.

In the lead-up, he raced a 35km with 1500m, reinforcing what he was doing in training and creating the training weekend stimulus we wanted!

This strategy works, you can listen to Brock say this on my website, even!


Past Newsletter Editions

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Closing Thoughts

You don’t need to live in the mountains to train for them.

Trail running isn’t just about technical footwork or endless vert — it’s about building strength, control, and confidence. And with smart programming, the right mindset, and a little creativity, you can develop all of that from wherever you are.

Urban runners. Flatlanders. Coastal cruisers (I like this one). You’re not at a disadvantage — you’re just training differently. And if you're strategic, you're actually training smarter than a lot of people on the trails.

Want help adapting your training to your terrain? Hit reply and let me know what event you're aiming for — I’m always happy to offer some thoughts or help you build a plan that fits your world.

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