Trail Running Training Plans

Following a structured training plan will increase your chances of success by 100%

What are the trail running race distances?

Trail Running is a popular endurance sport race over a measured course on an untarred surface.

There are no standardised distances, but race distance range between 5km and 100miles (161km) with anything over 50km being classified as an Ultra Distance race.

Trail Running races can centre around a central venue, with athletes returning to the start venue area after completing the course or after each lap until the distance is completed. Many of the major ultra trail races are, however, point-to-point races where athletes start at one point and end at a different venue.

Choosing the appropriate trail running training plan

In order to make it easier for you to choose the correct training plan for you, we categorise our training plans along 3 variables:

Training hours,
Race Distance, and
Preferred training measure

Training Hours

We split our training plans based on training hours available to the athlete.
The categories are Novice, Intermediate and Advanced.

Novice – 4 to 8 hours of training per week

Intermediate – 9 to 13 hours of training per week

Advanced – 14 or more hours of training per week

Race Distance

The second variable is race distance:

Trail Running Race Distances

8km, 15km, 30km and Ultra Distance (50km or more)

Preferred Training Measure

Running training zones are expressed in percentage of max heart rate (%MHR), percentage of threshold heart rate (%THR) and percentage of threshold pace (%TPace).

Training plan version v3.1 = %MHR for run sessions.
Training plan version v3.2 = %THR for run sessions.
Training plan version v3.4 = %TPace for run sessions.

3 Most Popular Trail Running Base Training Plans

Our 10km Road Running base training plans include sport-specific Core Strength and Flexibility training.

You also get access to our FREE training tools that will help you accurately calculate your training zones.

The training plan can, therefore, be adapted to your current fitness levels.

Athlete	Description	Training Peaks Link
Novice	10 Week Base	Training Peaks Link
Intermediate	10 Week Base	Training Peaks Link
Advanced	10 Week Base	Training Peaks Link

3 Most Popular Trail Running Build & Peak Training Plans

TrainingPeaks based plans for athletes who have completed a base training period and want to increase their volume and intensity in anticipation of peaking for a race.

Athlete	Description	Training Peaks Link
Novice	10 Week Base	Training Peaks Link
Intermediate	10 Week Base	Training Peaks Link
Advanced	10 Week Base	Training Peaks Link

3 Most Popular Trail Running Combination Training Plans

“All-In-One” TrainingPeaks training plans.
These training plans are a combination of the Base, Build and Peak training phases that will take you from the off season to your race day.

Athlete	Description	Training Peaks Link
Novice	10 Week Base	Training Peaks Link
Intermediate	10 Week Base	Training Peaks Link
Advanced	10 Week Base	Training Peaks Link