Durabilityby Darren Ware
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Field notes

How I coach, written down.

What I actually do with athletes and why, in plain words. Strength, easy running, fuelling, descents, heat and race preparation: the decisions I make, what I look for in the data and the evidence behind them.

Written by Darren Ware, ultra running coach · Private coaching

Durability is what happens after the fitness test ends.

You can have the aerobic fitness to run an ultra and still fall apart when the distance gets serious. Your heart and lungs can still be working. The pace still disappears. That's durability.

I look at what changes as a run gets longer: the heart rate required to hold pace, when efficiency begins to fall, how the legs cope with climbing and descending, whether fuelling holds up and whether the same athlete is still moving well after three, four or six hours. Then we train the thing that actually failed.

The aim isn't simply to make you fitter. It's to make the fitness you already have last longer.

A masters-age runner walking rather than running along a flat gravel trail through bare woodland

Durability · 6 September 2026 · 5 min

Coming back from a niggle without losing the block

A sore calf on Tuesday is not the end of the build. Pain rules that work, what I take out and what I keep, and the mistake that turns a week off into a month.

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An ultra runner deep into a long run on an exposed moorland ridge under heavy skies, tired but still moving

Durability · 31 August 2026

Your lungs are fine. So why do your legs fall apart after three hours?

Fitness and durability are not the same thing. What actually deteriorates on a long run, how I spot it in the data, and how we train the thing that failed.

6 min read →
A close crop of a tired trail runner checking a plain GPS watch, mud on the forearm, wet woodland behind

Data · 31 August 2026

Why your watch says recovered when you aren't

Recovery scores see part of the picture. What HRV and readiness numbers are good for, where they fall short, and how I actually use them.

5 min read →
A masters runner at a kitchen table in early morning light with coffee, a paper training diary and a GPS watch

Training · 30 August 2026

The seven-day training week is made up

Your body doesn't know it's Thursday. Why some runners over 40 need more space between hard sessions, not easier training, and how I decide.

5 min read →
An ultra runner in desert heat squeezing a soft flask to drink, salt crust on the forearm

Heat · 29 August 2026

Heat training without a desert: hot baths, saunas and a two-week plan

Heat is trainable in a bathroom. The acclimatisation protocol, what it does to your blood, and the timing that makes it stick for race day.

5 min read →
A masters-age ultra runner alone on a moorland track at night, headtorch lighting the wet stony path ahead

Racing · 24 August 2026

Running through the night: sleep, light and the 3 am low

The hundreds and the Spine are decided in the dark. What sleep deprivation does to pace, judgement and fuelling, and how I prepare athletes for a night on their feet.

6 min read →
A vast desert plateau with a single tiny runner on a long exposed trail

Racing · 20 August 2026

Your first ultra at 40+: getting from marathon to 50k without breaking

The honest gap between a marathon and a 50k, a 16-week structure that respects a masters body, and the progression rule I care about most.

6 min read →
A masters-age runner leaving a suburban front door before dawn with a headtorch on, frost on the parked cars

Training · 16 August 2026

Training for an ultra around a full-time job

Eight to ten hours a week is enough for most ultras if the hours are spent well. How I build a week around work, family and the runs that actually matter.

5 min read →
An anatomical runner descending a steep slope with the quadriceps and shin muscles glowing under load

Durability · 9 August 2026

Downhill running wrecks quads: how to train for descents

Why the descents end more mountain races than the climbs, what eccentric load does to your legs, and how to build descent-proof quads.

5 min read →
A masters-age runner power hiking a steep rocky climb with a loaded pack and poles, seen from behind

Durability · 2 August 2026

Walking is a race skill. Train it like one

Most of the Marathon des Sables, the Spine and any mountain hundred is walked. Why fast, loaded, uphill walking wins ultras, and how I build it without junk miles.

6 min read →
An ultra runner's hands tearing open an energy gel mid-run on a rocky trail

Fuelling · 26 July 2026

How many carbs per hour in an ultra? Train your gut like you train your legs

The evidence-based fuelling ranges, the gut-training ladder from 40 to 90 grams per hour, and why lab numbers lose to long-run practice.

6 min read →
A masters-age trail runner drinking from a soft flask on a dusty stony track in harsh midday light

Fuelling · 19 July 2026

Drink to thirst, salt by sweat, stop guessing

The carbs note covered fuel. This one covers fluid: why over-drinking is the dangerous mistake in ultras, what sodium is for, and how I set both from your own sweat.

5 min read →
A masters-age runner alone on a flat gravel track at dawn, relaxed and unhurried

Training · 12 July 2026

Your easy runs are too hard: heart rate for runners over 40

The most common mistake in masters running, why it stalls progress, and how a heart-rate cap fixes it in one move.

5 min read →
A masters-age runner sitting still on a stone wall beside a quiet lane in early morning light

Racing · 5 July 2026

The taper: cut the volume, keep everything else

Two to three weeks, 40 to 60% less volume, the same frequency and a few short touches of speed. Why runners over 40 taper badly and how to do it properly.

5 min read →
A masters-age runner mid-rep in a heavy trap bar deadlift in a plain garage gym

Strength · 28 June 2026

Strength training for runners over 40: two sessions that keep you racing

Why strength work is the most defensible addition to a masters running programme, what two sessions a week look like, and what to skip.

6 min read →
A masters-age runner seen from behind on a long empty clifftop path under flat grey light

Training · 14 June 2026

Forget the 10% rule. Watch the long-run jump

Weekly mileage rules have weak evidence. One number predicts injury better: how far your long run jumps past the longest run of your last 30 days.

5 min read →

Build legs that last.

Tell me your race and where things break down. I'll come back within two working days.

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