Episode 3 - Why intensity works… until it doesn’t

Episode 3 - Why intensity works… until it doesn’t

Intensity can drive quick improvements in trail running performance but only for a short time. Hard sessions create a strong training signal, yet they also generate fatigue faster than they build fitness. At first, fitness gains are visible; over time, accumulated fatigue masks those gains, leaving runners feeling heavy, flat, and slower despite training harder.

The mistake many runners make is responding to this fatigue by adding even more intensity or letting easy runs drift too hard. Instead, sustainable progress comes from using intensity sparingly, building a strong aerobic base, and allowing recovery to keep pace with training stress.

Key message: intensity should support training, not dominate it.

Rule of thumb: If intensity is always the solution, it eventually becomes the problem.


Key references:

  • The Science of Running — Steve Magness
  • Fitness–Fatigue Model — Eric W. Banister
  • What is Best Practice for Training Intensity and Duration Distribution in Endurance Athletes? — Stephen Seiler & Espen Tønnessen (2010)
  • Monitoring Training in Athletes with Reference to Overtraining Syndrome — Carl Foster (1998)
  • Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of the Overtraining Syndrome — Joint consensus statement (European College of Sport Science & American College of Sports Medicine)
  • Training for the Uphill Athlete — Steve House, Scott Johnston & Kilian Jornet
  • Special Block Training: A Modern Approach to Endurance Training — Renato Canova

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Episode 31 - Peak Form: How to Reach It and Why You Can’t Stay There Forever

Episode 31 - Peak Form: How to Reach It and Why You Can’t Stay There Forever

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28 Elo 22min

Episode 30 - The Plateau Problem: Why Ultrarunners Stop Improving and How to Move Forward

Episode 30 - The Plateau Problem: Why Ultrarunners Stop Improving and How to Move Forward

In Episode 30 of The Trail Running Briefing, we explore why ultrarunners sometimes stop improving even when they are training consistently and working harder.A plateau doesn’t always mean you need mor...

21 Elo 16min

Episode 29 - When More Becomes Too Much: Burnout in Ultrarunning

Episode 29 - When More Becomes Too Much: Burnout in Ultrarunning

Ultra running demands far more than just mileage. Long runs, back-to-backs, strength work, fuelling, recovery, work, family and everyday stress all contribute to the total load an athlete carries.In t...

14 Elo 9min

Episode 28 - Older, Wiser, Stronger: How Ultra Training Should Change With Age

Episode 28 - Older, Wiser, Stronger: How Ultra Training Should Change With Age

Episode 28 explores how ultra training should evolve with age without lowering ambition. The central idea is the recovery budget: every long run, hard session, strength workout and race creates stress...

31 Heinä 10min

Episode 27 - The Race You Didn’t Finish: Recovering from a DNF

Episode 27 - The Race You Didn’t Finish: Recovering from a DNF

After a DNF, remember this sequence:Feel it. Separate it. Learn from it. Then move forward.Feel the disappointment without shame. Separate the facts from the story you are telling about yourself. Extr...

24 Heinä 9min

Episode 26 - The fitness that survives: How to Build Durability for 100K and 100-Mile Races

Episode 26 - The fitness that survives: How to Build Durability for 100K and 100-Mile Races

Durability is the ability to preserve your performance as fatigue accumulates during prolonged exercise. While fitness describes what you can do when fresh, durability determines how much of that fitn...

17 Heinä 12min

Episode 25 - Carb Loading: Don’t Start Empty

Episode 25 - Carb Loading: Don’t Start Empty

In this episode, we cover why carb loading is not about eating a huge bowl of pasta the night before a race, but about arriving at the start line with full fuel stores. For trail and ultra runners, gl...

10 Heinä 10min

Episode 24 - The Low Point Is Not the End: How to Survive the Dark Miles

Episode 24 - The Low Point Is Not the End: How to Survive the Dark Miles

In this episode, we look at one of the most important skills in ultrarunning: managing the low points. Every runner will face dark moments during an ultra, but a low point is not necessarily the end o...

3 Heinä 11min

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