Running long - A trail and ultra running talk

Kris Jones is a professional runner for Hoka coming from Wales. Kris placed 8th at the 2023 world trail and mountain running championships Innsbruck 2023 in the short trail distance, and thanks to his result he helped the GB team take home the gold medal with his teammates Thomas Roach and Jonathan Albon. One reason why I decided to invide Kris to the podcast was because he’s always been very open about his training and he recently posted a very good article on Substack about his preparation for the world championship race. He also shared some very interesting reflection on how he managed the race - which was a 45km and 3400m of elevation, which is approximately or 28 miles and 11 thousand feet of vert. Kris has an orienteering background and he’s also a really good road and track runner, with PRs of 13:45 in the 5000m, 28.23 in the 10000m, 63’ in the half marathon and 2:17 in the marathon. Resources: World Trail Champs - The race World Trail Champs - Preparation Kris Substack Kris Instagram Please rate, review and share our show on social media: it will help other trail runners discover this podcast! _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Marco Altini is a data scientist, computer science engineer, high performance coach and founder of HRV4TRAINING. In this episode we talk about heart rate variability or HRV. Measuring HRV is an effective way to capture our body’s response to stress and how it's responding and adapting ​to training and lifestyle stressors. In this episode, we learn what heart rate variability is, how to measure it, how to interpret the data, how to use them to make conscious decisions related to our training and lifestyle. Most importantly, we approach the topic of training embracing its complexity, without giving easy answers, but trying to understand the context and reason behind some choices and patterns that we observe, and how technology can be a great tool to increase our knowledge and awareness. Follow Marco on Instagram and Twitter Follow HRV4training Sign up to his newsletter Learn more about Heart Rate Variability Discount code: HRV4TRAINING⁠ - get 25% off the pro version of the app with the code ANYSURFACE25 Please rate, review and share our show on social media: it will help other trail runners discover this podcast! _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Steve Krenn is a trail and ultra runner from New York City and a Vert.run coach. In this episode we will try to answer the question "can I train for a mountain or trail race even though I live in a flat place? Even with limited access to the trails, you can still call yourself a trail runner and develop the specific adaptations required by running on trails. With some adaptations and creativity, and maybe a little shift in your mindset, you can still train for trail running even if the closest thing to a trail is your local city park. The key point is to understand that running is not always enough. Core and strength training, cross training, stairs, jumps, the treadmill and the gym should be your friends. Sure, living and training where big climbs abound would be ideal. But thanks to this episode you can discover more on how to become a successful trail runner even without the hills. Follow Steve on Instagram Please rate, review and share our show on social media: it will help other trail runners discover this podcast! _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Adam Peterman makes his second appearance on this podcast after his incredible 2022, when he became the Western States Champion and the Trail Running World Champion in the long distance event, in Thailand. In this episode, we discussed how Adam’s life has changed after his incredible 2022, how he balances being a pro athlete with his other occupations, dealing with expectations and outside pressure, working with an agent, and we go into details of his training, how he picks his races, and his 2022 training data. We recently learned that adam suffered from a sacral stress fracture during his build-up for western states and unfortunately he will have to review his plan for the summer. We wish him the best and quickest recovery, and we are certain that this experience will contribute to make him an even better athlete. All the best Adam! Please rate, review and share our show on social media: it will help other trail runners discover this podcast! _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Craig Thornley is the race director of Western States. Western States is the oldest 100 mile race in America and one of the ultimate endurance challenges in the world, and Craig has been race director of the race since 2013. In this episode we talk about the history of the race, how he got involved, his work as a race director, and how he and the WS board are trying to evolve and at the same time preserve the spirit and special atmosphere of this competition, in the context of the fast changing and growing landscape of trail and ultra running. We also talk about the history of the event in relation to the birth of ultra running, its spirit and culture and why it’s important to take care of it. If you deeply care about the sport, this episode is for you. Follow Craig on Instagram and Twitter Read his blog Learn more about Western States Please rate, review and share our show on social media: it will help other trail runners discover this podcast! _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Leo Pershall is a Vert.run athlete and ambassador from California. Leo has an incredible story in endurance sports, and he went from being an ultra cyclist, to sailing around the world during the pandemic, to becoming a smoker and quitting any kind of physical activity, to finding the love for running again. This year, Leo was signed up to Black Canyon 100k and he felt very well prepared, but he ended up dropping out for injury and questioning his value as an athlete and his life choices. He took a few weeks to reset and get healthy again, and he managed to bounce back with a very strong finish at Lake Sonoma 50 miler. This is an inspiring story of setbacks and success, and a great example that progress is almost never linear. We are grateful to Leo for being so open about his struggles and what he went through, physically and mentally, over the past few months. Please rate, review and share our show on social media: it will help other trail runners discover this podcast! _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Rachel Drake is a professional trail runner sponsored by Nike from Portland, Oregon. In this episode we talk about Rachel’s experience with postpartum return to running, how she’s dealing with a bone injury that she picked up during her post pregnancy, the challenges of being a mom and training as a professional athlete. This is a great episode if you want to learn more about pregnancy and running, what’s important to pay attention to, what could be done to help more mothers stay healthy and enjoy running while breastfeeding and raising a child.  Read Rachel's post on Spring Energy blog: My Journey with Postpartum Return to Running Please rate, review and share our show on social media: it will help other trail runners discover this podcast! _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

In this episode of Coach Lab we talk about cross training and how to incorporate it into your preparation. As runners, we tend to focus very much on running and neglect what is a fundamental part of training.  Max and Francesco discuss the different types of cross training, their benefits and purposes, when you should you include cross training into your training periodization, and some ideas to have fun and make the most out of it. Max Keith is a trail and ultra runner from Santiago, Chile, Vert.run's co-founder and coach. Enjoy! Please rate, review and share our show: it will help other trail runners discover this podcast! _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

This is the story of how Vert.run came to life and what it has become today, from the voices of its founders: Moisés Jimenez, Max Keith and Kirsten Kortebein. Vert is a project born out of friendship, passion and love for the trails. From South America to the world, from an excel spreadsheet to hundreds of training plan and a smart training app, from a handful of people to thousands of beginners and experienced athletes, Vert has come a long way. Our most recent milestones have been the partnerships with the UTMB World Series and Skyrunning World Series. We’re dreaming big and working hard to live up to our mission, to make trail running accessible to everybody everywhere, inspiring people and giving them knowledge and guidance to have the best possible experience out on the trails. Get inspired, ask questions and explore the world. Better on a trail! Please rate, review and share our show: it will help more trail runners discover this podcast! _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Ruth Croft is a Kiwi pro trail runner sponsored by Adidas Terrex. We’re very happy to announce another Vert.run training plan by Ruth: a specific 16 week program for OCC, a race that she has won twice, in 2018 and 2019 . Sign up today on our website or in the Vert.run app!  Ruth is coming from a great 2022 where she won Western states and placed second at Festival des Templiers. This was a very fun conversation and Ruth always has a lot of interesting things to share. Personally, I like her approach to running on any surface and any distance, which has made her the world class athlete that she is. Get inspired! Follow Ruth on Instagram: @ruthcrofty Sign up to her training plans on vert.run _____________________________ Follow ⁠@vert.run⁠ on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on ⁠vert.run⁠ Support us by subscribing to our podcast, sharing it on social media or writing a review! Francesco's links: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Strava⁠ | ⁠Website⁠