r/trailrunning

All I’ve got are chunky monkey shoes

I want something super simple/minimal/subtle.

In July I’ll be doing a 90 km race with 6000 m of elevation gain. The race starts at 10 PM, which is normally the time I go to bed since I usually wake up at 5:30 AM.

I’m not worried about either the distance or the elevation, because I feel like I could go out right now and run 100 km or more without too many problems.

Unfortunately, even on weekends when I don’t have to set an alarm, I can’t sleep in late or fall asleep in the afternoon.

What would you recommend doing in the days leading up to the race, and especially on race day itself?

It’s the first race I’ve ever done with a nighttime start do you have any advice?

Whenever I ask this question, people are like “plantar fasciitis is treatable”. But when I ask about joining the military with a history of plantar fasciitis, people tell me it’s a horrible idea because plantar fasciitis can’t be fixed and it will only get worse. So is it permanent or not?

Hello everyone! First I wanted to say how I appreciate this sub Reddit, it's so inspiring for me! Gives me the strong community feeling, since I was always running alone.

I'm 36f, and started running in November 2023 in an attempt to move my body. In December 2022 I had a bludging disk injury and couldn't walk for a month so when it healed I was so grateful to my body that I knew I have to do sports and take care of it well this time. I always loved running but never had time to be consistent about it - my job was eating all my time. So after this injury as soon as I could, I started running more regularly.

I ran a half marathon in March 2025 in 2:12 time. I was only running and rarely doing some home workouts with light or mostly without weights. I had planned the next half marathon for October 2025 and I wanted to manage it under 2 hours. So I started running more- I also had more time than before, so it happened naturally that in may 2025 I ran 60km and in June 130km. Quite logic, that in July I started having pain in my left shin, the next thing I remember - it hurt walking and running was not even a matter of a question. Then it was a lot of walking from doctor to doctor with getting useless advices like "just don't do anything for two weeks and you will be fine", "it can't be anything serious, you look healthy and you are young". Finally one doctor decided to allow me to make an MRI (in Austria if you want to get it for free you need a transfer from the doctor) and it came out I had marrow edema on the left tibia bone. So I had to walk crutches for 3 weeks. (Never thought it would have such a depressing impact on my life, but it was mentally really difficult)

In November I started going to the gym 3 times per week, doing a lot of physio and coming into the weight training. At the end of December I got stronger and started running - first 15 seconds intervals twice a week, increasing it every 2nd week.

Meanwhile I got into the Mont Blanc marathon lottery and was allowed to register for 23km at the end of June 2026(in a month). Now per week I run three times, lifting 2-3 times, stairmaster 35mins and treadmill elevated walk and run - 35 mins. My runs are: easy run (that gets longer, this week 40 mins), intervals runs (also longer every second week, this week 23 mins), one trail run (this week it will be 75 mins). The mont blanc race elevation is 1680m and I was trying to find enough elevation for my trail runs, which is not easy in the region where I live now. In the last months my longest run was 90 mins with an elevation 280m.

I'm quite worried about this race and about my fitness level and injury danger. From one side I want to be able to finish the race in under 6 hours (otherwise I will be disqualified) but from the other side I'm careful not to push too much during preparation and get injured, especially now in the last and most intense period of preparation. I never did trail races before and my excitement and fear are melted together - I just don't know what to expect.

What do you think? Would you have any tips for me?

Thank you all a lot for reading until the end - and very sorry for this overly detailed and long text😅

Hey!

So I have a question about gear, what are some good brands to buy from considering price for the quality you get?
Can be anything like waterproof jackets and pants, vests, poles or other clothing necessary.

For some reason always end up at Salomon.

I feel like my biggest weakness in longer trail races is pacing.
Fueling and hydration are under control at this point. I take around 75g carbs/hour, around 800–1000mg sodium/hour because I’m a very salty sweater, and I drink consistently. No GI issues, no cramping, no real bonking symptoms.
The problem is that I genuinely don’t know how to distribute effort correctly over races lasting 5–7 hours.
In my most recent race (~28.5 km with a lot of elevation), my pacing was all over the place. Early in the race my HR was already in the high 170s/180s on climbs, and throughout the race I felt like I was constantly oscillating between pushing too hard and trying to recover.
What confuses me is that aerobically I often still feel “okay,” but the legs slowly fall apart and pace drops more than expected later in the race.
I recover well from hard training, tolerate moderate/high HR training fine, and I don’t think nutrition is the limiter anymore, so I’m starting to think this is mostly a race execution problem.
For people experienced with ultras or long trail races:
How do you actually approach pacing over 5–7 hours?
Do you:
strictly cap HR early?
pace entirely by feel?
use power?
intentionally stay way below what feels sustainable early on?
separate muscular effort from cardio effort somehow?
I feel like I still don’t understand what “correct effort” should feel like early in a long trail race, especially on climbs where pace becomes meaningless.

I keep seeing runs that claim to be "skyrunning", so I looked up the definition and it still seems like trail running to me. Is it just a marketing term to sound cooler?

I am looking for some insight from someone who has more time trail running with a headlamp under their belt than I do. I live in Florida and will be completing a few trail races this summer that are night time races. I've already purchased the new Petzl Swift RL with the ultra light band. I always wear a hat while running but was the thinner band a mistake? It feel comfortable but I haven't logged a 20 mile run on it either. The classic band isn't available locally so I wasn't able to compare both. I'll attach a picture of both. Both have the same padding around the front and the ultra light band is super easy to adjust on the fly. Supposedly the classic band is as well. 92g vs. 95g so the weight is a non factor.

https://preview.redd.it/0tvaz2gf472h1.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=17b6de94daf727760c6e3060e6ee9952a1a096d3

https://preview.redd.it/f0r1q3gf472h1.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dca54b3b67b437a5001ede0106784d69290ad0db

Well, I guess it was bound to happen someday...

I got into trail running about a decade ago, been around 15 years since I started running. I've run more races than I can remember, always trying to be faster, to go further. If I can run 10k, surely I can do 15, right ?

My biggest accomplishment was a 50k (2300m elevation) which I crushed (at least, by my standards). The final push was pure pain but this was one of my proudest moments. This was 2 years ago on Mont Ventoux, France.

Since then I've gone softer, lighter on training, just running for the fun of it. Stuck to 15 to 30k tops, didn't really care about the performance.

Then came that night at the restaurant. About 8 months ago, a large table with running friends. One thing led to another, and what do you know, about 10 of us commited to running a non competitive 80k, connecting 2 holy cities. Start at 7am with the bells of Rocamadour cathedral ringing, try to reach Cahors cathedral when its bells ring at 7pm. No winner, no timer, no podium.

I've done 50 with a clock running. I can do 80 with half the elevation for fun...

Yeah well, that was humbling.

The turning point was mid-course. While some friends were celebrating being now closer to the finish line than the start, my brain broke realizing that I had to do what I just did, again. I pushed through to the 50th before throwing the towel. My body wasn't working right anymore, my mind was playing tricks on me, and while I could have struggled up to the 60th, maybe 70th, it was obvious I'd never finish before 7pm by a looooong shot. Made the choice to cut my losses and avoid a stupid injury, called a friend to pick me up.

What a strange experience. Being from the Dragon Ball generation, I understand the happiness of being obliterated by an opponent so powerful... It just gives you the motivation to train harder than ever, and face them again.

And that's what I'll do. I will train. I will get better. And I will fuck you up, Trail de l'Angélus 2027. You will not beat me again.

Curious what people struggle with most- blisters, moisture, durability, fit, something else? Especially for longer runs or muddy races, it feels like small issues get amplified.

I keep running into this issue on hikes/trail runs: once I get into areas with no cell service, my Bluetooth headphones are still connected, but I can’t stream anything from my phone.

I’m looking for something simple and reliable for longer trails.

Hi guys

I have my first ultramarathon coming up at the start of September

I would like to know some tips and warnings for how to prepare for it and how long you need to be able finish a 50km trail run

The race is in Clarens, South Africa and has 1 600 meters of elevation.

I have done around 10 half marathons and did a half ironman a few month back
Wouldn't consider myself very fit but i have good endurance and if i set my mind to something i will finish it.

What Would be my best approach for the next 3.5 month of training and how do i best prepare for a race like this?

I started running 1 yr ago and noticed for the first 6-7 months I would hum at 150-160 HR then I started training for Triathlon (I am a long time body builder morphing to Triathlete at age 66) Now especially when I run and sometimes cycle I will usually go over 200 but I recover fast. This is based on my garmin watch and chest strap. Should I be concerned with this high HR when I recover so fast....my resting HR is in the 40's Mahalo 66 almost 67 yr old female