Ultra Trail Mastery: Ellie Greenwood’s Training Secrets and Race‑Day Strategies
One afternoon on a trail I thought I knew, I made a wrong turn and found myself sprinting uphill for three minutes, heart pounding, suddenly aware I’d miscalculated my effort by a wide margin. The sun hung low, leaves made the path treacherous, and I’d convinced myself I was ahead of everyone. The truth was simpler. My body and mind weren’t communicating. Most runners have felt this.
Story development
That run stayed with me. Nothing dramatic about it, just a solo outing that posed a straightforward question: how do I move past guessing and start paying attention? Over the last year, I’ve tested a simple but effective approach: personalised pacing. Rather than accepting generic advice like “run at 10 mph” or “maintain a steady heart-rate”, I set out to identify my own physiological patterns and use that to shape each kilometre.
Concept exploration
The science behind pace zones
The body works optimally at a specific point called the lactate threshold, the moment when lactate builds faster than the body can clear it. Exercise at this intensity raises aerobic power without letting exhaustion mount. For recreational runners, this falls between 70% and 85% of peak heart-rate, though it shifts based on training status, terrain, and rest.
Research in the Journal of Sports Sciences (2020) showed that runners working with individualized pace zones improved race times by 12% versus those relying solely on how hard the run felt. What matters isn’t fixating on the watch display, but understanding the connection between the number and your actual state on that particular day.
Why it matters for self-coaching
Claiming your own pace zones puts you in the coach’s role. You set specific, data-informed targets, check real-time feedback, and make changes as needed. You stop waiting for someone to yell “go harder!” Your body sends the signal.
Practical application
Step-by-step self-coaching with personalised pacing
- Establish your baseline. Complete a flat, 5-minute effort run. Write down your average heart-rate and how hard it felt. That’s your reference point.
- Define three zones:
- Easy (Zone 1): 60-70% of max HR. For easy, recovery days.
- Threshold (Zone 2): 70-85%. Where tempo runs and intervals live.
- Hard (Zone 3): 85-95%. Brief, demanding pushes.
- Use adaptive training. Let your zones evolve as weeks go by, driven by your most recent test.
- Watch real-time feedback. Glance at your wrist briefly to verify you’re staying in the right zone. Stray outside it and adjust.
- Create a collection of custom workouts. Build a library of runs around each zone (e.g., “trail tempo 6 mi at Zone 2”). After a few weeks, patterns emerge.
- Share with the community. Upload your zone data and notes. Seeing how other runners tackle the same zones on comparable trails offers fresh perspectives and accountability.
Closing and workout
Convert the nebulous sense of “this is too much effort” into something measurable and zone-based, and you’ll find yourself more sure-footed, less worn out, and watching kilometres add up to faster times.
Trail tempo plus intervals (6 mi total)
- 1 mi easy (Zone 1): warm-up on gentle trail.
- 3 mi at threshold (Zone 2): aim for a steady heart-rate at 75% of max. Focus on consistent effort, not exact speed.
- 2 × 0.5 mi hard (Zone 3) with 2 min jog between: push heart-rate into 85-90%, then recover.
- Cool-down: 1 mi easy (Zone 1).
Monitor your heart-rate, jot down what each zone felt like, and after a few weeks pull the data together.
References
- Ellie Greenwood, 2014 Chuckanut 50k Champion, Interview – iRunFar (Blog)
- Rory Bosio Pre-2015 TNF EC 50 Mile Interview – iRunFar (Blog)
- Ellie Greenwood Post-2015 TNF EC 50 Mile Interview – iRunFar (Blog)
- Ellie Greenwood’s favourite trail workout - Canadian Running Magazine (Blog)
- 2015 The North Face 50 Mile Championships Women’s Preview – iRunFar (Blog)
- Ellie Greenwood Pre-2015 TNF EC 50 Mile Interview – iRunFar (Blog)
- Ellie Greenwood 2011 TNF 50 Mile Post-Race Interview – iRunFar (Blog)
- Ellie Greenwood, 2014 Squamish 50k Champion, Interview – iRunFar (Blog)
Collection - The Ultra-Endurance Kickstart
Segmented Threshold
View workout details
- 15min @ 6'30''/km
- 4 lots of:
- 6min @ 4'52''/km
- 2min rest
- 12min @ 6'30''/km
Recovery Run
View workout details
- 5min @ 6'45''/km
- 30min @ 6'45''/km
- 5min @ 6'45''/km
Long Run with Tempo Finish
View workout details
- 5min @ 8'30''/km
- 60min @ 6'08''/km
- 15min @ 5'20''/km
- 5min @ 8'30''/km
to import the collection after you install it.
