Tag: Trail Running
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The best performances from Canadian trail runners in the first third of 2025 – Women
Canadians have been on poutine fire at the start of the 2025 trail running season, posting up some of the most impressive performances of the season so far in some of the biggest North American races. Here are my picks for the best of the bunch so far this season (Jan-Apr. 2025).
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Weekly Newsletter – Le Fun vs. Le Duh
It’s so hard to tell ourselves to stop in the moment, especially because humans are very, very bad at changing their own minds once they’ve set their mind to something. Now imagine how bad RUNNERS are at changing their own minds. You have to prioritize Le Fun. There’s no other way. But it must always…
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The changes to my training in 2025
2025 has been a year of growth so far as I recover from an injury. It’s also been a year of newness, as I train in new trails in a new province under the guidance of a new coach. We’ve focused more on running efficiency – touching more roads already in April than all of…
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Gorge Waterfalls 30K Race Recap – Penguins 🐧
I wasn’t meant to be in this race. I mean, to the extent where my bib still said ’50K’ on the day. While 30K might not ever be my race distance of choice, I felt fortunate to even make it to the start-line. Seven months of dealing with this injury on and off has taught…
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Maybe I do like to run 🤷
I always proclaimed myself to be nothing more than a shuffler, since I knew my skill and strength as a ‘runner’ leaned more toward the skill and strength-based aspects of the sport. Things like technical terrain, tough conditions, downhills, and sustained climbs. I prided myself on being able to dance around roots and rocks, and…
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Injured again: But life’s not about the short term, anyway
My injury has come back! But any kind of catastrophizing any more isn’t going to help. Instead I have to channel all my anger over the situation into genuine smiles and laughter, and hope for better in the long-term future, even if not the short-term. Life’s not about the short-term anyway.
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ITRA Rankings are so silly silly
I woke up to an email this morning. A ‘congratulations!!’ email. Not one where I won a trip. In fact, not one where I won anything at all. But it WAS a congratulations email. A congratulations email where I was ranked 16th in Canada for 2024 based on ITRA’s metrics. That is to say, via…
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The rebound effect
There’s something powerful in the post-injury experience. In the immediacy of the weeks and months following an injury. You’re still weary. You’re still hot dogging every downhill, expecting for every step to hurt. But over time, when you learn those steps no longer hurt like they used to, you gain confidence. Over time, you realize…
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How I fuel for training and races with XACT Nutrition
In the puzzle to become the best trail runner that I can be, I’m often running through the numbers and experimenting with nutrition to identify what works best for my body. High-carb fuelling has been something I’ve experimented with through diligent practice across the past two years, and essential to both my training and recovery…
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Why I use XACT Nutrition
I have now been an ambassador for the brand for almost two years, and write this article as a way of shining the light on the brand that has most rapidly helped to accelerate my own development in the sport. This is partially a love letter, and partially an explanation as to why I use…
Rhys Desmond 