Training guide
The year is not one long training block. Each season asks for something different, and each climate asks for its own version of the season. This is how I think about the year — principles first, so you can adapt them to where you live.
Spring
Spring is a transition, not a starting gun. Where winter was about holding form, spring is about rebuilding range: longer days, softer ground, and the first real climbs.
Add volume before intensity. Let the tendons catch up with the lungs — they always lag a few weeks behind. One hill session a week is plenty while the trails are still wet and heavy.
Summer
Summer is the season of opportunity: high trails open, the light lasts, and the big mountain days become possible. It is also the season of heat stress.
Do the hard work early or late in the day. Learn your sweat rate on easy runs before you need it on hard ones. If you can get to altitude, even a weekend high up teaches your body more than a month of flat heat.
Autumn
Autumn is racing season in the mountains — cooler air, stable weather, and the fitness you built all summer. It is the time to sharpen: shorter, faster sessions, and then the taper.
After your goal race, take the down week honestly. The fitness will keep. The motivation you protect now is what carries you into winter.
Winter
Winter is where the next summer is built. Lower the bar, not the standard: shorter sessions, done consistently, beat heroic weeks followed by nothing.
In the dark months, safety is the plan — a headlamp, reflective gear, and routes you know. Treadmills and skis are not cheating; they are how northern runners arrive in spring unbroken.
The four seasons are a European way of seeing the year. Much of the world runs on a different rhythm — the principles travel, the calendar does not.
Light is the limiting factor, not cold. Plan around daylight: outdoor quality sessions at midday in winter, long days in the endless summer evenings. Shoulder seasons are short — be ready when the trails open.
Summer heat, not winter cold, is the constraint. Treat July and August the way northerners treat January: maintain, don't build. The real training year runs from October to May.
In much of South and Southeast Asia the year splits into wet and dry, not warm and cold. Build in the dry season, maintain through the monsoon, and respect what heavy rain does to trails — landslide risk is real, and no session is worth it.
Humidity changes everything: your cooling works less, so pace must drop even when effort feels high. Slow down, shorten the midday window, and hydrate to a plan rather than to thirst.
From the Alps to the Himalaya, altitude is its own season. Arrive early, go easy for the first days, and let your breathing set the pace. The mountain will still be there tomorrow.
The calendar is simply reversed — your winter base is June to August, your racing season starts around November. Follow the principles, flip the months.
