Trail and ultrarunning demands more than just endurance—you need strength, stability, and resilience to handle steep climbs, technical descents, and long miles. Incorporating strength exercises into your training can improve performance and reduce injury risk.

Here are three essential movements to add to your routine, along with ways to progress as you get stronger:

1. Single-Leg Step-Up

Why it’s important: Trail running requires strong, stable legs for uphill climbing and maintaining control on uneven terrain. The single-leg step-up enhances leg strength, balance, and coordination—key components for powering up hills and maintaining efficiency over long distances.

How to do it:

• Find a sturdy bench or step about knee height.
• Place one foot on the step and push through your full foot to lift yourself up.
• Control the movement as you step down.
• Perform 3 sets of 10-12 reps per leg.

How to progress:

• Add weight by holding dumbbells or wearing a weighted vest.
• Slow down the movement to emphasize control and eccentric strength.
• Increase step height to challenge range of motion.

My Leadville 100 journey began at the finish line of the Silver Rush 50 in 2014. Looking down on Dutch Hill, two thoughts came to mind. 1. Am I about to be engaged?! My favorite Keith Urban song “Somebody Like You” was ironically playing and my now husband was holding a bottle of champagne to celebrate my first 50-mile finish. 2. While scrambling to find lip gloss in case the engagement were to happen, I thought “that was SO fun; I’m not ready for the day to be over.

Although an engagement didn’t come at that moment, my quest to conquer the illustrious Leadville Trail 100 Run came on in full force. Feeling like I wanted more miles, and more of Leadville, I didn’t realize I was about to embark on a multi-year journey to join the ranks of those who experience a Leadville 100 finish line moment on 6th Street.

Finishing 100 miles is never guaranteed and although I lacked ultra experience, I’ve always tried no matter the scale of the risk vs reward. With a heavy dose of naivety, the belief that it was possible and a deep core desire to explore my boundaries with running, I found myself on a multi-year journey of 100 miles that spanned getting married and having two incredible children.

As the new year begins, it’s the perfect time to set fresh endurance goals that will challenge and inspire you (should also scare you a little bit). Whether you're a seasoned ultra-runner, a dedicated cyclist, or just starting your fitness journey, goal-setting can transform your training and keep you motivated throughout the year. Here are some tips to help you create meaningful and achievable endurance goals:

Reflect on the Past Year

Take a moment to review your accomplishments and challenges from the past year. What went well? Where did you struggle? Understanding your strengths and areas for improvement will give you a solid foundation for setting realistic and rewarding goals.

Dream Big, but Start Small

Big goals—like completing the Heavy Half, a 100-mile bike ride, or your first triathlon—can be incredibly motivating. However, breaking them down into smaller, incremental milestones will make them less overwhelming and more achievable. For instance, if your dream is to run an ultra-marathon, start by aiming for a consistent weekly mileage or a shorter race first.

Make Your Goals SMART

Off season is the season of “Yes.” Saying “yes” to the wine, extra family time, sleeping in, going to bed early, or trying something new. Off season is not the season to lose weight or increase the volume and intensity of your training. Early in my career, I did not have a professional mindset during off season, instead, I pushed too much and did not let my body, mind, and soul heal from the previous season of racing and training.

One key fundamental to work on during off season is strength. Building a solid foundation of strength will help you stay injury free for the duration of your season, help you maintain a high volume and intensity load, and helps from peaking in fitness too early in the season. Strength can be derived from having 1-2 extra gym sessions a week, focusing on hill repeats for runners and cyclist, big gear efforts for cyclist, and other forms of cross training to help work different muscle groups than your in-season sport. Building strength and getting strong should be fun, mix it up, add weights, add reps, and try something new!

After winning the 2024 Lead Challenge, I needed a big off season. Racing the back-to-back 100s after having already raced the Leadville marathon and both 50s, my body, mind, and soul, was empty and exhausted. For my first two weeks of off season, I slept, took dog walks, and lifted. There was no running, no biking, and there was no forcing myself to do something I did not want to do. The next two weeks, I started to lightly jog and cycling while maintaining lifting an extra 2 times a week. Finally, after 4-5 weeks into off season, I started including intensity back on the run and the bike by incorporating hill repeats for running strength and big gear efforts for cycling strength.

This fall one of the athletes I coach landed on the podium of the New Orleans Ultramarathon 50k with a stout time of 3:28:46.

The week prior another athlete I work with finished the Chicago Marathon just under the final six and a half hour cutoff.

At first glance, these two efforts might look like they live in completely different worlds; that the athlete on the podium prepared for the effort while the other wasn’t ready at all.

Make no mistake, these were both peak performances. Athlete two didn’t just barely complete the Chicago Marathon. He crushed it. Because he wasn’t running a marathon on fresh taper legs. Rather, this athlete had completed a 100 mile run the Sunday prior.

These were both peak performances because the approach that these two athletes apply to their training is nearly identical.

So, what does peak performance preparation look like?

Our coaching group at Boundless talks a lot about “turning workouts green.” This is in reference to the completion markers assigned by our workout platform Training Peaks.

In the spirit of “choosing to suffer for those who don’t have the choice” – a phrase he and the team came up with during his adventure last year - Greg will be riding an astounding 1100 miles over 10 days, climbing over 40,000 feet to raise awareness and funds for Open Door Sports. The route is shown below and is from the RBC office in DC to the office in Montreal – via Toronto!

Last year, Greg battled incredible challenges such as incessant rain, killer bees and, yes, a heart condition (which we did not know about) for which he had surgery a month later! He covered over 700 miles in a week. With a new heart - in more ways than one 😉 - he thinks 50% mileage more is appropriate!

He does this so kids with special needs, like his daughter, Emory, have a chance to be on a team, meet new friends and have pride in their abilities.

He does this so teens like his daughter, Marlie, can be a part of an organization that is developing understanding, respecting difference and helping them realize that we are all more alike than we are different. Thanks to your generous donations in support of Greg's efforts, ODS was able to launch a young adult basketball program, an adapted tennis program, and an adapted yoga program for those with special needs.

I went into the race weekend knowing it was going to take a lot out of me. Unbound is a huge event, arguably the paramount gravel race in the world. I knew being my best self as a coach, full of positive energy and calm reassurance meant I would need more energy and time for my athletes so I chose to race the 50 miler. It was really fun lining up with such an enormous field and I experienced a lot of those nervous start line feelings. I’ve raced Unbound 200 and I’ve coached the Unbound Gravel training camp. I know how unforgiving the terrain can be and how extreme the conditions can get. I have a huge respect for the Flint Hills and for those brave warriors that return to Emporia’s gauntlet year after year. As a professional cyclist I’ve raced the spring classics in Europe but Unbound is another beast entirely.

The 50 mile race did not disappoint. From the start, it was mostly single file with a few souls taking their chances off the front. The front group decisively broke away when we entered a mud section. I had always planned to shoulder my bike and run if there was anything remotely dangerous to my drive train and there we were running and laughing and slipping in the deep mud, trying to edge into the tall grass as much as possible. Those of us that dismounted and remounted quickly established a small group that worked seamlessly together all the way until the final kicker in Emporia. From there it was a long sprint to the end and I am a good sprinter.

Coach Brad Stahlman and Coach Scott Jordan have dialed in practical strategies to increase their performance under intense heat conditions. This summer, Coach Scott finished 1st in his AG at the Keys 50 and 3rd in his AG at Western States Endurance Run. Coach Brad crushed the South Florida weather and completed the Keys 100.

Here’s some of their best advice that has recently helped them when temperature rises:

Acclimatize to Heat Pre-Race:

Focus on adapting beforehand to hot conditions by getting proper race experience in the heat prior to your goal race. Spending time in saunas or hot yoga allows your body to properly adapt as well. Lastly, gradually increase your exposure to heat during training sessions. For example, change your training days to midday or afternoon when the temperature peaks instead of early morning or evening when possible.

Prepare with Proper Cooling Accessories:

Consider using cooling accessories like ice bandannas, frog towels, or wristbands that can be filled with ice or soaked in water. Beware and be prepped for blisters these could cause with the excess water! The best way to prepare for this is to get experience racing in the heat so you know what to do and how to fight this.