What does it actually take to line up at your first trail ultra and not just survive it, but do it right?
In this Expert Series episode, we sit down with Ash Daniels, Level 3 Athletics Australia accredited coach, AUTRA endorsed coach, and Australian national 100km team manager, to get into everything road runners need to know before making the jump to trails.
Ash starts where most coaches don't: with his own disastrous first attempt at Ultra-Trail Australia, carrying enough kit to survive the weekend and arriving at a checkpoint six hours late.
From that experience came a 5-hour PB the following year, a decade-long coaching career, and a very clear philosophy on what actually matters in trail and ultra preparation.
In this episode we cover training specificity for trail (and why your marathon prep won't save you), the vert-per-10K metric Ash uses with all his athletes, why he ditched heart rate zones in favor of running power and RPE, what social media consistently gets wrong about electrolytes and high-carb fueling, and a nuanced, honest conversation about where AI fits (and doesn't fit) in coaching.
Whether you're eyeing your first 50K or just trail-curious, this one is packed with practical, no-nonsense insight.
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Find Ash at journey2ultra.com.au or on Instagram @journey2ultracoaching
Follow Bruna: @justbrunathings
Follow Fabi: @endurance_fabi
Learn more about the podcast: www.humanendurancepodcast.com
