Trail preparation

Trail running remains running in TriCoo. You can record terrain and surfaces separately, and see where to train and which effort to use. Preparation supports one continuous race up to 100 km and a total finish time up to 24 hours. Longer races can be saved, but a specific preparation plan is not calculated for them.

The form describes one continuous race. Preparation does not support multi-day stage races. A name or GPX alone does not tell the platform that a race has multiple stages.

You can also train for trails without a race. Pick Trail in the Your sport card. What the week looks like then is described in Your sport.

Set the course#

On Races, choose Run, then Trail. Planning needs a date and distance. Finish time, terrain and training history are optional and can be added later. Road and Unknown remain separate options. A race name or a small elevation gain does not establish the run type.

Elevation gain and elevation loss are separate values in metres. You can enter them without GPX. A blank field means the value is unknown. A value of 0 m means no gain or loss is known to occur. Loss is never assumed to equal gain.

Choose all surfaces that apply, such as dirt, rocks and roots. Leave the list blank if unknown. Technical difficulty describes the course. A simple trail has few obstacles. Moderate terrain requires careful foot placement on uneven ground. High difficulty means frequent obstacles and difficult route choices. This is not a rating of your experience.

GPX and manual values#

You can add GPX after creating the race. Complete altitude data lets the platform calculate gain and loss. The source appears under each value. If altitude is missing anywhere, total gain and loss remain unknown. Separate track segments are not joined by an invented elevation change.

A manual correction takes priority for that field only. You can correct gain while keeping loss from GPX. Replacing the file preserves your correction. Use GPX removes it and restores the latest file value. If no usable value exists, the field becomes unknown.

GPX can also provide the elevation range and the largest continuous climb and descent. Manual total metres do not change the original profile. Total loss over many short repetitions does not establish experience with one long descent.

Time from start to finish#

Your time estimate is optional. If you know it, add it on your race card in hours and minutes. This is elapsed time, including hiking, fuelling and stops. The organiser's cutoff is not a substitute for your estimate.

Without your estimate, the platform may use usable, comparable completed records. Similar distance alone is insufficient. Surface, technical difficulty, gain and loss must be known. Road pace is not converted into a trail forecast.

If time cannot be estimated, preparation remains provisional. The race load uses a reserve based on distance and known elevation gain. This is a planning value. It does not become your finish time or set an upper bound on race duration. Without a time estimate, the platform cannot yet confirm that the race fits within the 24-hour limit.

The calendar temporarily allows for a possible duration of up to 24 hours. This may also reserve the following day. It does not establish when you will actually finish.

The provisional recovery period is chosen separately, using distance and known descent. It is not calculated from the load reserve hours. Your result may change the plan. A missing record does not establish that you have finished or recovered.

Unknown time does not stop calculation of the entire affected week. A medical stop, no available days or a required workout with no suitable slot can still prevent training from being assigned. The platform explains these cases. Specific preparation for a known race beyond 100 km or 24 hours, or for a multi-day race, is not available yet. The race stays in your season.

Read the workout#

The card shows Terrain and Effort. Elevation numbers appear only when assigned to that workout. Effort uses perceived exertion. There is no need to match a road pace uphill or downhill.

When the assignment says Gain up to and Loss up to, these are separate elevation ceilings. Choose a simple route. You do not need to reach these totals. The numbers do not establish that a suitable route is available nearby or that this workload has already been completed.

Running and hiking may alternate within one workout. You can start hiking earlier on a difficult section or when the assigned easy effort becomes difficult to maintain. Walking back downhill also counts towards the descent assignment.

Why this explains the workout's place in preparation. The steps contain the task itself. Uphill work, descent practice and foot placement practice use time within the existing week. They do not add sessions on top of the available budget.

Main and secondary races#

A main trail race shapes its preparation and taper. A secondary race can receive suitable specific workouts while respecting the main goal. A training race does not increase the weekly budget to create a full preparation cycle.

When a required session cannot fit specifically because of the trail race or recovery, the plan first removes optional sessions and reduces the required dose. Only if that is insufficient is the session not assigned on that date. The preview and saved plan show its date, sport and reason. The required setting stays unchanged. The session is not completed and creates no debt for other days. Unrelated schedule conflicts can still stop recalculation of the week.

Every race uses time and load. A priority letter does not make a long trail race easy. Recovery depends on elapsed time, distance, known elevation loss and existing readiness restrictions.

When the finish falls on the following day, the calendar accounts for both dates. An unknown start time may reserve the following day as a possible finish day. That reservation does not establish that the race actually continued overnight.

What supports progression#

The plan reads usable completed records. Unknown history does not mean zero experience. Marking a workout Done without actual numbers does not establish gain, loss or technical practice. These facts are considered separately from running duration.

Recommendations for descent and long-session progression are cautious planning rules. They do not establish readiness for 100 km, mastery of dangerous mountain manoeuvres or muscular recovery. A missed workout does not create training debt.

Read more about weekly planning, training load and perceived effort.

Evidence and limits#

Studies on uphill work, descending, strength and nutrition are listed in Sources. They support individual training directions. Plan doses and time limits remain cautious coaching rules, not a validated individual performance forecast.