“Every runner hits a wall. What matters is whether you’ve done the work to step over it or crash into it.” – Kris King
Ever felt like you’re spinning your wheels with training, battling injuries, falling off track, or just not knowing where to turn next? You’re not alone. I’m Kris King, and over the past 20 years, I’ve had the privilege of coaching runners and directing some of the toughest ultra marathons on the planet. Along the way, I’ve learned a few things, mostly the hard way, about what helps runners not just survive, but truly thrive.
Just a warning, the below isn’t about quick fixes or flawless training plans. It’s about real lessons learned the hard way, what actually works, what doesn’t, and how to build something that lasts. Whether you’re chasing a personal best or just hoping to reach the next checkpoint feeling a little stronger than before. You will find this useful.
In my view, ultra running isn’t just about stacking miles. It’s about training with intent, managing stress, and building the kind of resilience that lets you sustain high volumes over time. The truth is, your ability to train well isn’t just about how much time you’ve got, or how fired up you are. It’s about how well you manage everything that affects your body’s capacity to handle the load.
If injuries keep showing up, if you’re feeling flat more often than not, or if your progress has just hit a wall, it’s probably not about effort. It’s about capacity. Something is holding you back from absorbing the demands of your training.
That’s where training capacity comes in. It’s your body’s ability to take on, adapt to, and recover from the work you’re doing. And if you can increase that, everything changes. You can train more consistently, recover more quickly, and show up stronger when it really matters.
“The best runners I know aren’t the ones who push the hardest, they’re the ones who know when to pull back.”
Lets get into the detail.
Training by Time Beats Chasing Miles
One of the biggest shifts I’ve seen to help runners progress, whether they’re just getting started or have a few races under their belt, is moving away from tracking everything by mileage and focusing instead on time.
Because not all miles are equal. An hour on smooth tarmac isn’t the same as an hour grinding up technical trails, and trying to treat every mile like it’s the same currency just doesn’t work. When you train by time, you give yourself a better shot at balancing effort, recovery, and progress. You create space for strategic work, tempo, threshold, easy runs, without overloading your system. Watch our video on this here!
Training by time is also a great equaliser. It respects where you’re at in the season, how you’re feeling that day, and what your body is capable of handling. And that level of honesty? That’s where sustainable improvement begins.
Understanding the Key Training Zones
Easy Recovery Runs (Base Building)
These are the unsung heroes of endurance training—and they should make up the majority of your weekly volume. They’re done at a relaxed, conversational pace. When you track these runs by time, not miles, you can steadily increase your volume without creeping into the danger zone of overtraining.
Tempo Runs
Tempo runs sit just below your lactate threshold. You’re working, but you’re in control. Think of it as that “comfortably hard” effort where you can’t really chat, but you can hold it together for 20–40 minutes. Logging this by time gives you a clear benchmark for improvement, and keeps the focus on effort rather than distance.
Threshold Runs and Sprint Work
This is where things start to get spicy. Threshold runs nudge just over that lactate line and really test your aerobic engine. Thresholds are normally done in reps at no longer than 10 minutes. They need to be handled carefully. Too much threshold work can tip you into fatigue or injury. By keeping these sessions time-based, you’re more likely to strike that fine balance between growth and burnout.
Time-based tracking allows you to build your training like a well-balanced structure, each type of run has a purpose, and your body has the space to adapt and respond to the load. The same is for sprint work, you can see my video on that by clicking here.
The Foundations
Too many runners jump straight into high-mileage plans thinking more equals better. But volume without foundation is like building a house without solid ground underneath. Those 60-mile weeks look impressive on strava, but if your base isn’t strong, you’re just setting yourself up for frustration or injury. Ultra running isn’t about pushing limits recklessly, it’s about earning the right to push.
Let’s take a look at how to do that:
1. Start Where You Are, Not Where You Want to Be
You don’t see elite runners suddenly crank out 100km weeks from nowhere. They’ve built to that over years of layered consistency. If you’re currently training 4–6 hours a week, don’t double it overnight. Aim to increase by no more than 15% per week and give your body a chance to adapt. Progress happens in patience, not in panic.
2. Increase Frequency Before Duration
Running more often (even if it’s short runs) builds durability and routine. If you’re at three sessions a week, try four or five before you make them longer. Once the frequency’s in place, you can begin stretching your long runs, layering in back-to-backs, and building race specificity without overwhelming recovery.
3. Prioritise Easy Effort
Most runners train too hard, too often. The secret to long-term volume? Keep the majority of your running easy. Conversation pace. No gasping. Base building should dominate your training calendar, with intensity sprinkled in when your system’s ready. Once that foundation is stable, then you layer in hill work, tempo, and speed to sharpen things up.
4. Strength Training
Running alone won’t make you bulletproof. Strength training 2–3 times a week reinforces the scaffolding to that house I mentioned. Joints, tendons, muscles will need to handle the volume. I include strength work in every training plan I’ve written: single-leg drills, mobility sequences, and plyometrics. They keep you moving well, especially when the miles start stacking up. Look at strength training as an investment. Watch our full-strength training video with coach Jonny Pain here.
5. Respect Recovery as Much as Training
You don’t grow during training, you grow from recovering well after it. Recovery isn’t just taking a day off, it’s an active strategy. Sleep 7–9 hours. Fuel properly with a balance of carbs, protein, fats, and colour-rich foods. Hydrate. Support your immune system. I’ve also found breathwork, mobility, and heat/cold therapy to be great tools to keep recovery varied, intentional, and even a little fun.
6. Discipline and Community (Lessons from Kipchoge)
I once had the absolute privilege of spending time with Eliud Kipchoge. He said success comes down to two things: discipline and community.
Discipline is what he calls Vitamin N, learning to say “no” to anything that doesn’t serve your goals. That might mean turning down late nights, skipping junk food, or showing up to train when it’s the last thing you feel like doing. It’s simple, but it’s powerful.
Then there’s community. Kipchoge surrounds himself with people who challenge him and hold him accountable. If you want to train smarter, surround yourself with others who push you forward. Make your easy runs social. Match your hard runs with people a touch quicker than you. It makes a huge difference.
7. Play the Long Game
This isn’t a crash course. It’s not about smashing one race. It’s about building a body that can handle years of training, racing, and recovering well. If you’re struggling with consistency, check out my video on building habits and foundations here. But above all, play the long game. The real reward isn’t just reaching the start line, it’s arriving healthy, confident, and ready to give your best.
If you take home one message from this article it is this: Your capacity is the quiet engine behind your performance. When you build that, everything else starts to click.
We Don’t Quit
Kris King
You can follow Kris on Instagram by clicking here. Kris regularly posts training tips, updates and insights into the BTU Races!
