Episode 19 - Why Your Legs Die Before Your Lungs

Episode 19 - Why Your Legs Die Before Your Lungs

In this episode, we explore why many trail and ultra runners feel that their breathing is still under control, but their legs simply stop working.

The main idea is that ultra running is not limited only by cardiovascular fitness. It is also limited by local muscular endurance: the ability of the quads, calves, glutes and stabilising muscles to keep producing force for hours.

Climbing, descending and technical terrain all place specific demands on the legs. Uphills require repeated force production, downhills create muscle damage through braking and impact, and trails constantly challenge stability and control. This is why a runner can still have a strong aerobic engine but lose performance when the legs are no longer able to absorb, stabilise and push.

The episode explains that the solution is not simply more mileage. Runners need race-specific preparation: uphill muscular endurance, downhill conditioning, purposeful hiking, and consistent strength training.

Key message: Train the engine, but build the chassis. In ultras, strong legs protect good fitness.


Key references:

  • Millet et al. 2011 — neuromuscular fatigue in mountain ultras.
  • Bontemps et al. 2020 — downhill running and eccentric damage.
  • Pradas et al. 2021 — ultratrail racing, muscle damage and neuromuscular function.
  • Balsalobre-Fernández et al. 2016 — strength training and running economy.
  • Llanos-Lagos et al. 2024 — updated systematic review on strength training and running economy.

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Episoder(31)

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

Peak form is not simply about being as fit as possible. It is the point where high fitness meets low fatigue, allowing an athlete to fully express the adaptations built over weeks and months of traini...

28 Aug 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 Aug 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 Aug 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 Jul 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 Jul 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 Jul 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 Jul 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 Jul 11min

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