As another year of training racing starts to approach its end, I reflect on the biggest lessons I’ve learned in each of my years in the sport of trail running so far!
2022 – RECOVERY MATTERS MORE THAN TRAINING
Before I had even raced for the first time on trails as an adult, I learned a super valuable lesson about recovery.
After track races, cross country events, and even long runs as a teen, my body often didn’t want to eat.
I don’t think you should get away with that as a teen. But you simply can’t get away with that as an adult.
I started in the sport by travelling to trails in Brantford and Hamilton, about 30 minutes away from my home at the time in Cambridge, Ontario.
I must have been bringing some food and drink, but nowhere near enough. I would have more likely waited until I got home to eat, rather than having something like a protein bar or protein shake immediately on hand to start the recovery process properly.
At the time, I was also severely stressed at work and didn’t look after my body enough. I didn’t know about all the recovery tools I know about now, and didn’t do enough to repair my damaged muscles on a day to day basis.
Weekly Newsletter – The secrets to my recovery in 2025
Unsurprisingly, I ended up developing a bad case of plantar fasciitis, spending the remainder of 2022 on the sidelines.
2023 – RACING SMARTER > RACING HARDER
I followed up that injury with a great first year in the sport, podiuming all three of my races.
At the Sulphur Springs 50K, I raced against a host of guys I knew nothing about and just ran my own race. I stayed back in the first 10K as four of them went out as a lead group. I slowly picked them off one by one until it was a photo finish for second – a photo finish I lost by seconds.
It still remains one of my best races, as I simply ran my own race the entire time, never giving into the actions of others (a lesson I would later re-learn!).
The next time out, I started hot on the heels of the guy who won Sulphur Springs, as we battled for first and second all day. It was a battle that blew both of us up and made for another exciting finish. But had I run more of my own race in the early miles, I might have come out with the victory that day.
Then it all clicked together at The Bad Thing 50K, when I managed to run my own race while being the hunted, for a change. It was the first time that the roles were reversed, where I had the chance to lead the playing of games rather than having to respond.
Rather than working myself into the ground, I had a very methodical, relaxed race, slowly breaking the chasing dude down until the gap became more than twenty minutes.
I didn’t break a course record that day as desired. But I did run a super smart race without ever breaking myself. It was more evidence to what I had already learned the first time out – when it comes to trail running, racing smarter will always be better than racing harder.
2024 – TRAINING WITH FRIENDS IS MORE FUN
In high school and university, you’re part of a team and always training with others. It’s where you meet some of your favourite friends and develop a deeper connection to the sport.
But being part of a “team” in trail running as an adult doesn’t look the same. My teammates are spread out across Canada and don’t really race what I do.
I had a few guys from that 2023 Sulphur Springs crew that I’d sometimes train with, but hadn’t really found a solid training partner (elite trail runners in Ontario are also spread out by several hundred kilometres).
Then following our wins at the Sulphur Springs 20K, Tanis Bolton and I started training together for much of the summer toward QMT 50K and Squamish 50K.
Running with Tanis, I realized I was able to get a lot more out of myself on back to back long run weekends. I could run the first one socially, then do the second one with a greater emphasis on race specificity.
I was able to run my highest mileage to date in this sport simply just from taking more days easy, more days in Zone 1, more time hiking, and more time feeling connected.
It’s something I would love to do again here in B.C – even in just finding one person to train with! One of my goals of doing more BC races next year is simply to be able to meet more of the people that love to do what I love to do. More on this one hopefully to come!
2025 – YOU HAVE TO RUN YOUR OWN RACE
While I’ve done my best training to date this year (thanks Coach Jade!), I haven’t necessarily had the best racing year. Part of that is from selecting super competitive races. Part of that is from coming back to life after a knee injury at the end of 2024. And part of that is genuinely from poor racing tactics.
Ahead of the Harricana 28K, I wrote down some of the things that help me to have a good race.
I think this can be an illuminating exercise for every runner, and something I encourage you to do before your next race.
Some things went wrong that day, but most things went very right. And that is down to being super clear with myself about exactly what I wanted out of the day, and exactly how I planned on getting there.
I just wanted to run my own race, to focus on myself, and to focus on myself within the context of racing others.
In a 30K, racing others is different than it is in a 50K. The tactics deployed are more difficult to come back from when implemented correctly. There’s less margin for error. And you’re having to respond to decisions while racing at a much faster speed, and higher heart-rate. It’s an exhilarating feeling that I absolutely love.
And figuring out the puzzle to all of this – precisely how to run my own race in the context of those around me – will be a work in progress within every single race. With every single race being different. But for the very least, I figured it out really well on that day, and now have new mental strategies for life.
Ultra-Trail Harricana 28K Recap – I don’t hold hands
What have been the biggest lessons that you’ve learned this year? Feel free to send me a shout (or email) and share! Thanks for reading and see you soon!
Rhys Desmond 