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How To Train For & Recover From Trail Running

By Sportitude
22 min read

Trail running can take you further and higher than any other run.

In Part 1 of our 3-part trail series, you learned How To Switch From Road To Trail Running. In Part 2 below, you’ll find out how to master trail running.

Discover the key to trail running. From building mental toughness to increasing your strength and flexibility, we share the type of exercises, tools and tips you need to get your mind and body trail-ready.

Don’t worry if you don’t have easy access to a trail, because you can practice these effective workouts at home or locally as part of your trail running training.

Whether you're a beginner trail runner or elite ultra runner, recovery is equally vital as training to become a better runner and reduce your risk of injuries. Alongside trail training tips, we give you insight on how to care for your body as a runner and discuss what's best thing to eat after a run to speed up your recovery.

The Complete Trail Series

Table Of Contents

1. How Do You Train For Trail Running For Beginners?
2. How Do You Train For Trail Running At Home?
3. How Do You Recover After A Trail Run?

How Do You Train For Trail Running For Beginners?

How to train for trail running hills: Hill repeats

Hill running in favour of pancake-flat routes will help you become a stronger, more powerful runner - improving your muscular strength and cardiovascular fitness.

Hill repeats in particular are a popular running workout to train for half marathons, marathons and trail running. They involve running at a moderate to fast pace uphill, reaching the peak, then walking or jogging on the downhill for recovery. As a guide, perform 2 - 3 reps per session as a beginner, then gradually increase this to 6 - 8 reps per session over the coming weeks.

Hill training is an on-the-go strength workout for your lower legs. Your hip flexors, glutes, calves, quadriceps and hamstrings all strengthen and adapt, supporting more efficient and powerful strides. Although it’s unlikely you’ll be sprinting on the trail, it’s interesting to note that the muscles activated during uphill running are identical to those you engage during sprinting – meaning hill running makes you a faster runner.

Performing specific hill workouts has targeted benefits, with hill sprint repeats on shorter, steeper inclines supporting increased strength and speed, and hill repeats on longer, less aggressive gradients building your strength and stamina.

Hill running lowers your resting heart rate, meaning your heart works more efficiently to pump oxygen-rich blood to your muscles during activity. It also increases your VO₂ max, the maximum volume of oxygen the body can use during exercise, improving your overall running economy. Downhill running also has its own advantages, training for stability and encouraging you to use your body more intuitively to be a better trail runner, like raising your arms to the side for balance.

Keep in mind that as you transition to more technical terrain, hills are often a natural part of trail runs. Hill training in a more controlled environment can help you build your confidence before tackling wild trails. By varying your everyday runs in incline, the benefits of having increased strength will naturally be transferred into trail environments.

Learning the correct running posture to conquer uphill running will help you run more efficiently and safely before taking on the slopes of the trail:

  1. Look forward: Don’t be tempted to look at your feet which can result in hunching, interfering with your uptake of oxygen. Keep your gaze straight ahead, and you’ll stay aware of the next segment of hill that’s coming.
  2. ‘Stand tall’: Keep your posture upright and core engaged, with your head, neck, hips and ankles in alignment, your back straight and shoulders relaxed.
  3. Lean naturally, not forcefully: A slight, natural lean from your ankles, not your waist, will support forward momentum and feel like you’re working with the hill, rather than fighting gravity. It’ll also avoid any interference to the range of motion of your hip flexor muscles as they help you power uphill. 
  4. Shorten your stride: A shorter stride helps you land lighter on the ball of your foot, beneath your centre of gravity, making hill running more forgiving, to then push off powerfully. If the terrain allows, your heel should also contact the ground to assist in shock absorption, either at the same time as your forefoot or immediately following.
  5. Swing your arms, lift your knees: Swing your arms by your side like pendulums, with your elbows at a 90-degree angle and close to your body to help add momentum to your stride. Your legs will follow in sync with the opposite arm, while lifting your knees will compensate for the incline to support proper running form.
  6. Visualise: If you need extra motivation, visualise you’re attached to a rope that is pulling you uphill.

If there are no hills in your area, a set of stairs can have a similar effect in your training. A treadmill can also be a handy tool to really fine-tune the incline, but remember you won't have this control when conquering the roller coaster of undulations on the trail.

How to develop mental toughness for trail running: Run in the cold & rain

If hill running strengthens your muscles, then training in bad weather strengthens your mind. It takes motivation and determination to lace up when it's windy or raining. However, it's important to remember that running in the rain won't directly make you sick; it's the exposure to the cold that can inhibit your immune system.

Both the rain and cold are elements you can prepare for, with these layering tips to guide you in your comfort and safety. As long as you're otherwise healthy and stay protected with the right running clothing, you can embrace rainy runs rather than avoid them, and even enjoy the challenge.

Set yourself up with a running long sleeve-t-shirt as a sweat-wicking baselayer, cosy mid layer and weather-ready running jacket - because you can't control the weather, but you can control what you wear. You'll find that at the finish line of a cold or rainy run, that you've increased your mental resilience and feel proud in your accomplishment.

When it comes to getting started in your trail running journey, this may mean you feel less intimidated by challenging terrain and conditions, and more confident to focus on the fun of taking your fitness off-road.

Be aware that when running in the rain there is an increased slip risk from slick roads, fallen sticks or branches and mud. Compared to when conditions are dry, you'll need to be more deliberate regarding your footing, similarly to trail running. Of course, for safety reasons, avoid running outdoors if severe storms or dangerous conditions are expected.

Layering suggestion for women:

Layering suggestion for men:

How to train for increased speed & endurance: Fartlek training

Swedish for “speed play”, fartlek training is an unstructured running workout that involves running by feel. The result is improved speed and endurance while keeping your training fresh and stimulating.

Fartlek training is a varied, creative and fun way to run, with sessions lasting usually 20 - 60 minutes. The idea is to run as fast as you feel you want to go in the moment, rather than following a run-by-numbers approach.

Often, you’re discovering the nature of each fartlek session on-the-run. However, like any run, it's important to have a 10 - 15 minute warm-up and cool down with walking, low-intensity jogging, gentle stretching, etc.

An ideal speed to start your fartlek session is at a marathon pace (a pace that can be sustained for long periods), before stretching just outside your comfort zone by playing with faster intervals - then slower intervals - then faster again.

You can shift the tempo with an easy jog, moderate running pace, your 5K PB pace or a short, all-out sprint – in no particular order. Everything from a warm-up pace to bursts of speedwork may be included in a fartlek run.

It’s possible that you’re already engaged in traditional fartlek training without realising it, using a landmark like a tree, lamppost or whatever catches your eye, to guide you on when to shift the pace up or down a gear (e.g. I’ll sprint until I reach the next mailbox, then slow down to recover). Alternatively, you may wear running headphones and adapt the pace to meet the tempo of your music.

There’s no wrong way to do fartlek training - you may choose to change pace simply according to how your body feels. The key to fartlek training is that the pace should be varied and your movement should be continuous. Typically at the end of a fartlek run, you should feel invigorated rather than exhausted.

Although spontaneity is in the spirit of fartlek training, these sessions can be more structured if you're more motivated following a plan over the freedom of traditional fartlek runs. Time-based fartleks involve running at a specific pace for a defined duration, before changing the tempo and repeating for a different pace/duration. Coros running watches allow you to pre-program workouts to help guide these shifts in pace during your session.

If this structured style of training resonates with you, traditional interval training may be worth considering – a planned, high-intensity workout that’s more precise and deliberate in pace compared to fartlek training. They involve running at high speeds for specific, short intervals, broken up by designated recovery periods where you pause or walk.

However, the randomness and flexibility of fartlek runs is a natural fit for training for trail running. Unstructured fartlek training encourages you to listen to your body to identify the right pace for you based on effort. Fartlek training itself can be performed on any surface - including the trail or hills - but it's best to keep it simple as a beginner and stick to relatively flat roads, where you can develop a greater understanding of your training load in terms of perceived effort, before taking on more technical terrain.

The inconsistent nature of the trail has its similarities to fartlek training, as you must adapt your pace frequently to suit the environment and conditions. Changes in terrain and incline are essentially nature's way of benefiting runners with fartlek training, potentially without you even being conscious of it.

Fartlek training can make you a stronger, faster and more adaptable trail runner by:
  • Activating slow-twitch muscle fibres (for endurance and sustained efforts) and fast-twitch muscle fibres (for quick, explosive power), offering a balanced workout
  • Stimulating both your aerobic ('with air') and anaerobic ('without air') energy systems, supporting improved endurance and speed/strength respectively
  • Improving mental and physical resilience to adapt to changing conditions, such as the terrain or incline
  • Helping train your body to intuitively 'shift gears' based on perceived effort and the environment, allowing you be more strategic in your pace
  • Improving your VO₂ max; the maximum volume of oxygen your body can use during exercise

How to build stability for trail running: Run on grass

If you have a go-to road running route from your front door, that’s fantastic, but occasionally consider taking the road or grass less travelled. Run on the well-maintained, relatively level grass at your local park, oval or soccer pitch to train for increased stability, balance and proprioception (awareness of your body in space) on the softer surface compared to hard, consistent roads.

This softness is both more forgiving than road surfaces, offering natural cushioning for your joints, while making your legs work harder, causing them to fatigue faster. It's also an ideal stepping stone to adapt to the varied terrain of trail running.

Similarly to remote trails, running on grass will engage your muscles in different ways compared to road running. Like running on soft sand, grass puts more stress on your ankles and Achilles tendon, as your muscles must compensate for the compressing surface beneath your feet, while allowing them to build strength and resilience.

Grass is rarely perfectly flat, and may have concealed dips or debris that encourage you to scan ahead and be mindful of your footing, preparing you for trail running in bushland. Gravel paths are another option to train your muscles to move more sure-footedly running on looser surfaces. With time, your muscles will be able to respond more intuitively to provide stabilisation.

When preparing for a grass run, start slow until you gain a feel of it to build up confidence. Be wary of increased risk of ankle twisting on the unsteady surface, and the potential slip hazard wet grass represents.

Training tip: Gradually increase intensity or distance

Alongside consistency in running regularly, gradual progression in distance/duration or intensity/pace will help prevent your performance from plateauing, and help you take the next step in your running journey towards the trail. To prevent overtraining and the risk of injury, it’s important to only increase either distance or intensity at one time – enjoying longer, more easy-going runs or faster, shorter runs. This will help build your endurance or speed respectively.


How Do You Train For Trail Running At Home?

Even before you set foot on a trail, you can help train your body for increased strength and flexibility, making you less prone to injury and more primed for the challenges ahead. The skills you develop by diversifying your exercises at home with cross-training, can support your switch from road to trail running and ensure a balanced fitness routine.

A combination of strength and flexibility exercises at home may also help you identify any imbalances with your body to address that may put you at greater risk of injury on the trail.

How to build strength for trail running: Resistance bands

You don’t need any equipment to get started in strength training. Strength training exercises that use your own body weight as resistance including squats, lunges, push-ups and pull-ups can help kick your muscles into gear.

However, a strength training tool can help fuel your motivation, inject the fun into your workouts (particularly if you'd rather be out running) and help you progress in developing both strong, lean muscles and core stability to benefit your journey as a trail runner.

If you're seeking a one-and-only strength training tool to add to your home gym, we recommend resistance bands for their versatility - both in the wide variety of exercises they allow, and their adaptability for beginners to elite ultra runners.

Resistance bands can elevate your strength exercises by increasing the tension applied to your body, resulting in muscle contraction. Your muscles naturally grow, strengthen and adapt due to this constant resistance as they stretch and lengthen during exercise.

For many runners, resistance bands have taken the place of traditional strength training tools – free weights like dumbbells or kettlebells – due to their lower impact (kinder to your joints) and lightweight portability meaning you can use them anywhere. The versatility and effectiveness of resistance bands also means they can be used to achieve a full-body workout.

Blackroll resistance bands are available in different strength levels, from extra light to extra strong. The most convenient way to purchase resistance bands is in a set of 3 or 6, with each strength level catering to your requirements as your fitness increases to support continuous progression.

Training tip: Strengthen your glutes and core for trail running

Having stronger legs which include your calf muscles, adductors, quadriceps and hamstrings can naturally make you a faster and more efficient runner. However, having powerful glutes and a strong core is also a game-changer, especially when taking your performance to the trail.

Your glutes, which include a trio of muscles being your gluteus maximus, medius and minimus, are responsible for hip extension. Hip extension is essentially the foundations of your biomechanics – allowing your leg to swing behind you when you run, aiding in propulsion.

Stronger glutes, specifically your gluteus medius, translates to more stable hips. This is essential during lateral movement and running on uneven or technical terrain. Equally significant, a stronger core supports proper running form, keeping your body aligned and movement controlled. It improves your balance, which is critical on the trail to help reduce your injury risk.

By doing your ‘gym homework’ and performing glute and core strengthening exercises, you’ll be able to move more confidently and safely on the trail, particularly when running downhill on steep slopes. With the addition of resistance bands in your home gym, these exercises can be more effective and enjoyable.

You can check out these resistance band exercises for inspiration, which focus on strengthening your glutes and your core.

How to increase flexibility for trail running: Yoga

The tranquillity of yoga may seem like a world apart from the adrenaline rush of trail running, particularly on aggressive, technical terrain. However, just because the movements of yoga don’t directly replicate that of trail running, doesn’t mean its benefits should be overlooked when it comes to your biomechanics.

Both activities cultivate mindfulness, keeping you present in the moment, but you may be surprised at the physical benefits yoga has for trail runners. Although increased flexibility is generally the first that comes to mind, the benefits of yoga in your trail running journey may far exceed this - helping develop everything from your physical strength to your mental toughness.

Check out 6 Rejuvenating Yoga Poses You Can Do In Bed, with a beginner-friendly approach to get you started.

The benefits of yoga for trail running

Increases your flexibility & mobility

Although trail running offers more variation compared to road running, any type of repetitive movement can lead to overuse injuries as muscles tighten and contract.

Yoga poses or postures (asanas) encourage a greater range of motion with gentle stretches, which are held for a period of time, lengthening muscles. This both encourages a release of tension and tightness in your connective tissues and makes them more limber. Being more flexible also allows you to smoothly flow between strides and supports faster movement.

Increased flexibility translates to a lower risk of injury – making your ligaments, tendons and muscles more resilient to the jolts, twists and turns of the trail. Relief from tightness also can alleviate aches and pains that can compromise your comfort and performance.

Improves your strength, stability & balance

Stability and balance are key to trail running safely, especially on technical terrain. Being able to navigate natural debris, dips and rises in the trail can be fundamental in not only your running efficiency, but in preventing falls and injury. Alongside stretching and lengthening muscles to improve flexibility, yoga involves the contraction and strengthening of muscles, often all within one pose. With increased strength, comes increased stability.

One-legged yoga poses such as tree pose (vrksasana) and warrior 3 (virabhadrasana III), activate the stabilising muscles in your core and are particularly effective for training for balance. Even something as simple yet challenging as standing on one leg while you brush your teeth, can improve your stability over time and keep you steady when conditions underfoot are rough. With a stronger core, you’ll also be able to better maintain proper running posture, allowing you to move more efficiently and injury-free.

Heightens your proprioception

Proprioception or the awareness of your body in space, is integral in both yoga and trail running. For example, being able to shift your body weight or sidestep instinctively on the trail to avoid obstacles, like sharp rocks or roots, can save you from harm and keep you out of painful scrapes.

Yoga trains your body for increased proprioception through slow, deliberate movements that keep you conscious of the placement of your limbs. One-legged balance poses raise your awareness of not only the larger muscle groups like your quads, but the tiny bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments in your feet.

These tiny muscles subtly shift to keep you steady and correct any imbalances. With practice, you’ll become more in tune to even the smallest nuances in movement of your body, giving you confidence and improved coordination on changing terrain. It’s as if each muscle acts as an instrument in an orchestra – playing its role to keep your body moving harmoniously. 

Being more conscious of your body may also make you aware of any niggles or imbalances that need to be addressed, such as pain, swelling and tenderness.

Improves your breathing

Being conscious of your breathing on the trail can help guide your pacing strategy – shifting up or down a gear to maintain a consistent and sustainable effort, as influenced by the environment (e.g. hills).

Not only can yoga make you more aware of and in control of your breathing, but it can strengthen your respiratory function and diaphragm. Pranayama is a breath regulation technique or ‘breathwork’ that improves your oxygen intake of your lungs. Pranayama often is translated to ‘control of life force’, with a focus on the meditative benefits of calm, diaphragmatic breathing.

Breathing more efficiently can naturally increase your physical performance, helping you maintain a faster pace with less perceived effort. Practising pranayama can set the foundations of more efficient breathing as a runner, training your inspiratory muscles (muscles that contract to transport air into the lungs) to function more effectively. Many yoga poses that are performed standing also can help strengthen your back muscles as your spine lengthens, which can support increased lung capacity, boosting your intake of oxygen.

Guided yoga breathwork, whether online or in-person at a yoga class, may assist you to breathe better on your runs.

Boosts your mental focus & physical resilience

The rejuvenating nature of yoga draws you into the present, helping soothe a ‘busy brain’ and providing stress relief. Discovering this calmness can take practice, and on the trail having this focus is fundamental.

Being distracted can be dangerous when the variability of the conditions means you need to stay alert and ready to react. Of course, there is a connection between mind and body - so when your mind is focused, your body can move more deliberately and precisely.

Yoga also requires discipline as you concentrate on being steady in your movements. This mental and physical resilience can help you take on challenges with an open mind, and can help ease anxiety or make it more manageable.

How Do You Recover After A Trail Run?

Recovery isn’t just about what you do after a run, but how you support your overall health and wellbeing in everyday life.

How to take care of your body as a trail runner: Self-myofascial release

Self-myofascial release is a method to support muscular performance and recovery as part of a training routine, rehabilitation or simply to promote the health and mobility of your muscles day to day. Self-myofascial release uses specific massage and recovery tools to manipulate the soft tissues, providing relief of tension to your fascia – the connective tissues that wrap your muscles, bones and organs.

Your fascia can develop ‘trigger points’ or ‘muscle knots’ as a result of muscles being underworked, overworked, fatigued, improper posture and injury or trauma. Whether you primarily run on the trail, road, track or treadmill, self-myofascial release has a positive role in keeping your body run-ready.

The benefits of self-myofascial release aren't purely physical. Research suggests self-myofascial release can reduce the perception of pain by neurological means, triggering the release of nerve signals that communicate to the brain to 'relax' muscle tension and areas of sensitivity.

Foam rolling and massage guns are two key ways you can enjoy the benefits of self-myofascial release from home.

The benefits of self-myofascial release for trail runners

Pre-run:
  • Improves the flexibility of your fascia, allowing them to slide more smoothly over each other, reducing your injury risk
  • Increases your overall mobility for improved range of motion to run more efficiently
  • Stimulates your circulatory system to aid in bloodflow, warming up muscle tissues to prime them for performance
  • Triggers your mental focus, making you more alert when you hit the trail
Post-run:
  • Reduces the severity and duration of DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness) post-workout
  • Provides post-workout relaxation to release tension of both muscles and mind
  • Increases blood circulation to support the transport of oxygen-rich blood to support recovery and reduce inflammation
  • May reduce perception of pain by stimulating nervous system receptors

Foam rolling

Foam rolling is an effective and cost-effective way for both beginner and seasoned trail runners to prioritise the health of your muscles after a run. Foam rolling involves the gentle application of a foam cylinder to the body through slow and controlled movements.

A foam roller can be applied to large muscle groups such as your calf, quadriceps, hamstrings glutes, hip flexors and upper back, and can help improve their movement efficiency or patterns. For example, foam rolling can help provide relief from tense hip flexors, which in turn supports the performance of the glutes to provide stabilisation on the trail.

Foam rolling regularly can also help you identify muscle imbalances or areas of concern. For more guidance on how to incorporate a foam roller into your recovery routine, check out Foam Rolling Tips To Improve Your Recovery & Performance.

Massage guns

Whereas a foam roller focuses on providing relief to larger muscle groups, a massage gun is a hand-held device that provides pin-point relief through percussive therapy. Massage guns achieve a similar effect to a foam roller but faster, through a rapid back-forth pulsing motion that applies vibrations to your muscle tissues. 

This makes them ideal for trail runners that are short on time or require a deep tissue massage to address targeted pain. You can check out Everything You Need To Know About Massage Guns for further guidance.

How to properly refuel after a trail run: Recovery nutrition & hydration

Enjoying balanced nutrition that includes vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables in everyday life, will boost your physical and mental wellbeing.

When it comes to what to eat post-run specifically, your nutrition choices have a vital role in restoring your energy levels and providing fuel for your body to repair, allowing your muscles to adapt, strengthen and become more resilient.

Your post-run meal should fulfil the following requirements:

  • Refuel: Replenish your glycogen reserves (stored energy) located in your liver and muscles with a source of carbohydrates
  • Repair & rebuild: Support the repair of the minute muscle tears that naturally occur during physical activity, for a faster and more effective recovery through the consumption of protein
  • Rehydrate: Restore your fluid levels and replace the electrolytes lost during perspiration

Refuel: Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the primary energy source of your body. After consumption, carbohydrates are converted into glucose, the simple sugars located in your bloodstream, and glycogen – the stored glucose in your liver and muscles. This energy is required to power not only your muscles, but your mind.

When running, your body first draws upon the glucose in your bloodstream, then taps into its ‘backup’ supply of energy, your glycogen, converting it into glucose when the former is depleted. Glycogen is also the go-to source of fast-acting energy for your body when performing high-intensity or anaerobic activities that require immediate power, like explosive sprints or hill repeats.

To ensure your body has access to energy to sustain you throughout your next trail challenge, it’s vital to replenish your glucose levels after your run by consuming carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates are more nutrient-dense than refined carbohydrates, as they contain the entire grain kernel (wholegrain). This includes oats, quinoa, brown rice, wholegrain bread and wholegrain pasta. Other sources of complex carbohydrates include fruit like apples and bananas, or starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes.

Being both higher in fibre and offering a slower release of energy compared to simple carbohydrates, complex carbs support your digestive health and sustain a feeling of fullness for longer. Preparing for race day like your next ultramarathon is the exception, where refined carbohydrates may be more appropriate in the meals leading up to the starting line as they are easier to digest, reducing the risk of stomach discomfort.

Repair & Rebuild: Protein

Protein is essential for repairing damaged muscle fibres and growing muscle mass (a process called protein synthesis) to become a stronger, more adaptable trail runner. Protein can be sourced from both animal products such as beef, chicken, salmon, eggs and dairy and plant-based products such as soy products (e.g. tofu and soy milk), legumes (e.g. chickpeas, lentils and beans), dark green vegetables (e.g. peas, broccoli, brussel sprouts and spinach) and nuts and seeds.

As many plant-based proteins are ‘incomplete’ proteins – meaning they don’t contain all 9 essential amino acids or contain some in only very low quantities - variety is key in a vegan or vegetarian diet to fill any nutritional gaps.

Amino acids are the ‘building blocks of proteins’ - responsible for not only muscle-building and repair, but in supporting the transport of nutrients around your body, your immune system health and the neurotransmitters that are responsible for communication between neurons (nerve cells). Soy, quinoa and chia seeds are among the rarities of plant-based foods that contain a ‘complete’ source of amino acids. 

Rehydrate: Water & electrolytes

From improving your concentration, to preventing overheating, to helping transport nutrients to your muscles, water is critical to both your performance and recovery.  

Rehydrating by replacing a high percentage of water you’ve lost in sweat (about 80%) is essential to restore the fluid balance of your body. Ideally, you’ll wear a hydration vest with you on the trail, allowing you to take small, regular sips to top off your hydration on the run and post-run.

Sweat not only contains water, but electrolytes – primarily sodium and chloride, but also calcium, potassium and magnesium in smaller quantities. You can learn more about the role of each of these electrolytes in Ultramarathon Nutrition & Hydration Guide: Carbs, Electrolytes & Caffeine.

Typically, if your trail run is shorter than 60 minutes, rehydrating with plain water without the addition of electrolytes is enough to support your recovery. For longer or more intense runs, an electrolyte boost is recommended.

The sports nutrition market is bountiful in research-based electrolyte products, with electrolyte tablets and chews a fantastic option for runners of all levels starting out in trail running. These are convenient to store in your hydration pack, allowing you to replenish electrolytes as needed.

To take the guesswork out of restoring your electrolyte levels, Precision Hydration have released electrolyte tablets with moderate (PH 500), strong (PH 1000) and very strong (PH 1500) strength options to personalise the benefits to your specific sweat rate, the conditions and running workout.

These electrolyte tablets are ideal for dissolving in a 500ml hydration flask or water bottle to drink as needed. If you are wearing a hydration vest with two flasks, consider designating one for your electrolyte sports drink and the other for plain water, giving you options pre-, during and post-run.

As your trail running journey evolves, you may consider products such as Tailwind Nutrition and Prepd Hydration which are designed to meet the hydration and electrolyte demands of performing and recovering endurance athletes - from marathon to ultramarathon. Both feature a recovery-specific option to fulfil your hydration and electrolyte needs post-run.

For more hydration tips, check out:

What to eat after a trail run

Your post-run nutrition should ideally begin within 30 minutes after your trail run to speed up and support your recovery, and should include both a nutrient-rich source of carbohydrates and protein.

Check out the following post-run meal ideas for inspiration:
  • Muesli with yoghurt, berries, nuts and seeds
  • Lean beef/chicken/barramundi burrito or burrito bowl with brown rice and beans
  • Quinoa salad with grilled salmon and vegetables
  • Wholegrain pasta with a tomato-based sauce and lean protein
  • Veggie omelette with your choice of stir-in ingredients (e.g. spinach, mushrooms)
Lighter options:
  • Hummus with wholegrain crackers, carrot or celery
  • Wholegrain toast/bagel with banana and your choice of nut butter (e.g. peanut, almond)
  • Dairy-based smoothie or protein shake

If you don’t have access to a full meal shortly after your run, consider kick-starting your recovery with a nutrient-dense snack such as a high-quality energy bar. Clif bars are not only rich in carbs for energy, but contain protein for muscle repair, as well as being a source of fibre.

Recovery tip: Prioritise quality sleep

Alongside caring for your muscles and enjoying recovery-focused meals post-run, your sleep is fundamental to keep you on track of your trail adventures. During deep sleep or slow wave sleep, your body goes into 'recovery mode'. With your brain 'at rest', blood rich in oxygen and nutrients can be partly redistributed to your muscles, supporting muscle growth and repair.

REM sleep, the stage of sleep when your dreams are the most vivid, improves your cognitive function including the consolidation of memory, your concentration and creativity - all of which can be applied to navigating your next trail adventure.

For more information on how your sleep quality can support your recovery, check out:


If you liked this, you'll love:

Part 1: How To Switch From Road To Trail Running

Keep an eye out next week for Part 3, where we'll answer your frequently asked questions on trail running shoes.

Happy trail running!




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