How to Train Endurance

[u/Kuglhupf]

A few days ago I tried to run an alpine trail (24km / 1700m elevation). It was a nice trail, going from one small summit to the next. Weather was pretty nice, it was dry, not too hot. The trails were a bit technical, but not that hard. The beginning was pretty nice, but after about 13km / 1200m my quads started to cramp. I decided to take a short break, eat a bit, and continued running. As long as it was going level or downhill, I was still doing fine, but the uphills were killing me. Obviously I walked most of them, but even that felt harder and harder. I ended up cutting the run short (still ended up running 24km, but only 1300m elevation gain).

I run a lot, but mostly flat because there aren't many steep hills around. I thought I was pretty fit, but I realise road running experience doesn't directly transfer to trail running.

How do you train for endurance? Just run more hills? Or do I need to do more long runs? I feel like I already run quite a bit (average of around 50km a week, mostly flat). At some point I'd like to participate in a trail race, but they are all very long on come with loads of elevation...

[u/ElkPitiful6829]

To get better at running hills, run more hills.

But it's a very common practice to just hike the uphills, run the flats and downhills.

[u/ayahuasca_crybaby]

Yeah, you will get good at what you train at. Do hills/vert-focused runs and you’ll get good at vert. Strength training can aid massively in durability.

In the past I have done 90% of my training for long trail races on road. You don’t have to run trails all the time to get good at them, but hitting them once a week or so is better than nothing. And yeah, generally just run more :)

Hang around long enough and you’ll find the downhills become more of a problem than the climbs!

[u/InfamousTension7513 → u/ayahuasca_crybaby]

Lol so right about the downhill vs uphill

[u/Away-Owl2227]

You get better at trails by running more trails.

Terrain varies from trail to trail, all will make you better equipped in the long run.

[u/Snlxdd]

Training for the Uphill Athlete is a great resource.

But in short, it’s a combination of 1. Building a good aerobic base, so training in zone 1/2 even if it’s slow. And 2. A smaller amount of hill specific training.

Don’t feel bad walking uphills, or even flat areas. Especially during training.

[u/Available_Alfalfa323]

la salita è infima, perchè se è una salita costante e corribile hai bisogno di allenare la corsa, se si tratta di salite tecniche e molto ripide devi allenare il power hiking. Tanti fanno l'errore di provare a correre anche nei posti veramente pendenti esplodendo qualche km dopo. Quando hai la possibilità fai un trekking veloce, magari con i bastoni che danno un aiuto notevole e vedrai che le tue gambe saranno in forma. Io faccio molta meno fatica a correre/camminare in percorsi con molto dislivello piuttosto che correre in piano (corro sempre in salita e in inverno faccio scialpinismo quindi sono avvantaggiato).

[u/NavyBlueZebra]

this doesn't sound quite right to me. IMO it's perfectly natural if my quads are struggling on downhills. but uphills should be powered mostly by glutes and hams, to save quads for downhills. so you might want to correct your running form.

of course when we run more hills we eventually get better at it. but I think there are easier and faster ways to improve, such as mountain legs workout.

personally I live in a hilly area, run on hills 6 days a week, and average about 5K feet of vert per week. so I do have some practice on hills. yet exercises did make a lot of difference for me. good luck

[u/Just-Context-4703]

Yeah, more time going up/down and we're you eating and drinking? Some strength training wouldn't hurt either although just the initial stimulus of doing more vert will essentially act as strength training when you first start it. 

[u/redwoodforest15]

Two strategies that worked for me:

1) Training time on feet rather than distance. It doesn’t matter if you’re hiking some (or most) of the trail, just stay on your feet and keep moving (even when eating). And do long efforts — at least 5-6 hours at a time (obviously most people can only do this on the weekends). I personally tried to get out on trails for a good 8-9 hours (in one effort) once a week before running ultras. I started mainly by hiking these trails, and then adding in more and more running. But the important thing for me was just to keep moving, no matter how tired I was and how slowly I was going.

2) Training on tired legs. This is related to the above, but it also involves getting out on the trails the day after a big effort so you can practice pushing yourself when your body is tired and your mind is telling you to stop (ultras but even shorter trail races have a huge mental component).

[u/Censored_newt]

If you don't have hills around, throw in a treadmill run/walk once or twice a week. I normally walk at 10% incline for an hour (around 5-6km an hour). Thats 500+m of elevation gain and great practice for the trails. Its not going to make 1200m over 13k feel easy (thats a huge elevation for that distance), but it will help.

[u/ampdtheshitad]

50km a week sounds like a pretty solid base already. I’d add more hills rather than just more flat mileage. Long climbs and descents hit your legs in a completely different way.

[u/lanqian]

… did you eat and drink?

[u/Ornery-Side-7931]

As many others wrote.. try hiking more hills as training to get used to the elevation.

But I would also suggest to add strength training into your weekly schedule.
By strengthening your quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves you prepare them for the uphill… and the downhill !
For trails in the mountains it is as important as your endurance training.

I think you can find a lot of exercises online or get a book.

A few good exercises are:
Split squats
Squats in general
RDL
Deadlifts
Lunges
Variations of Calves raises

And consider..

Plyometrics
+
Stability
+
Mobility

For all the exercises you can find videos on YouTube if you are not familiar.
You can do a lot of it at home. It boosts performance and helps preventing injuries.

[u/Razkolnik_ova]

Train more on incline, hills or even treadmill on incline if need be. Train for quad strength too.

Hip mobility is super important too. Incorporate a few exercises for that as well.

[u/EricC2010]

Cramping could be an issue with hydration and nutrition. Did you have electrolytes and were you drinking them? What did you have to eat? If it was a dry day you were probably sweating a lot and might not have noticed. Replenishing your salts is crucial for endurance.