Stage races aren’t just about endurance. They’re about waking up sore, smiling, and doing it all again. Here’s how to train so you don’t just survive the stages but savor them.
“Approach it like a festival, like a community gathering, a gift to yourself, made for the most enjoyable mountain running I’ve ever done,” said writer and runner Nick Triolo, who has completed the TransAlpine stage race three times.
But this style of racing also demands a unique kind of preparation. The challenge isn’t just one hard effort; it’s managing fatigue, recovery, and consistency across several days. “What runners underestimate is how much transformation can happen in just a week,” said Brett Harrison of Red Knot Racing, an organization that puts on multi-day events across Africa.
Here’s how to train for a stage race so you arrive ready not only to finish, but to enjoy the adventure.
“Voluntarily doing hard things changes you, and personal growth is multiplied in these multi-day events.”
Brett Harrison
Training for a stage race should look different than your typical 12-week training block because the demands of the event are significantly different from those of your regular 50K. Because of the separate stages where the clock stops in between, the dynamic and demands of the event change, and athletes should train specifically for stage racing success.
“Stage races are about durability, not one big peak effort,” says CTS Coach Cliff Pittman, who has helped many athletes prepare for multi-day pushes in addition to competing in a few himself.
It’s about stacking consistent days with strategic recovery. The training focus is less on peak performance and more on durability, recovery, and efficiency.
According to Pittman and athletes like Triolo, Back-to-Back (and Back-to-Back-to-Back) long runs are a key ingredient in successful stage race prep. Pittman recommends that athletes should build gradually from two-day bigger efforts to three-day blocks to mimic race conditions. To simulate the demands of a stage race, an athlete might progress toward a weekend with runs of 3-4 hours, 6-7 hours, and 2 hours, respectively. But, be sure to slot in your peak simulation block at least 4–5 weeks before race day to allow time for recovery and adaptation.
Recovery is just as important as training (and actually, technically, inseparable). Rather than treating it like an afterthought in the training process, athletes should prioritize and practice what their bodies need to recover between harder sessions.
Pittman recommends that athletes train like they race, treating each big weekend as a dress rehearsal to practice what they plan to implement at the event itself. Strategies like rapid refueling, making sure athletes quickly replace the energy they expended between stages, rehydration, and prioritizing sleep.
“To really be trained to cover a few hundred miles in a week, you have to center recovery; your ice bath, stretching, and nutrition game all have to be on point,” says Triolo.
While ice baths or cold water immersion aren’t great additions to typical training because the cold can temper inflammation, blunting adaptations, Pittman says they can be a solid strategy in stage racing, when the emphasis is on recovering to perform the next day rather than maximizing training adaptations.
Smart pacing is essential for a successful stage race, and experts recommend pacing more conservatively to start, and that athletes should practice their pacing in training so that it feels more natural on race day.
“Reduce your speed by 5–10% because your overall time is what is going to count,” says John Hardwin, who race directs several stage races (and has some multi-day FKTs under his belt).
“The biggest mistake is going too hard on Day 1,” says Pittman. “I coach athletes to treat the first day like the first half of a 100-miler—keep it smooth, aerobic, well-fueled, and have something in the tank when you finish. Most people move up in the rankings by being steady, not fast. Day 2 might be a good opportunity to push the effort, and Day 3 is generally about survival for all participants.”
To get comfortable with that easy aerobic effort, athletes should train on terrain that is as close to the race day terrain as they can access and practice locking into their desired race effort.
Stage races magnify the racing environment; heat, altitude, and technical terrain don’t just add up, they significantly change the demands of the event.
According to Cocodona 250 Race Director Steve Aderholt, “The effects of course conditions such as heat, altitude, and terrain definitely compound in the multi-day format.” That makes training specificity essential. If your race includes long climbs, spend time power hiking; if it’s more runnable, dial in your steady aerobic rhythm on smoother terrain.
To toughen up your quads, target a couple of weekends on steeper routes. Even just a few focused downhill sessions can create the protective adaptations of the “repeat bout effect,” where your muscles learn to better handle eccentric load without you having to thrash them week after week.
Race director John Hardin, who has staged multi-day events from Appalachia to Argentina, points out that altitude may actually get easier with repeated exposure, but everything else, heat, terrain, fatigue, will keep stacking against you. Preparing for those realities in training means you’ll be ready not just to survive the miles, but to enjoy them.
Stage races require specific physical training and focus on the mental aspects of multi-day racing. With compounded fatigue, mental swings are inevitable, and the ability to manage them is crucial.
To build mental training into your physical preparation, practice running back-to-backs without music or podcasts to simulate mental fatigue and practice navigating any feelings that pop up rather than tuning them out.
Expect to feel tired in the mornings after a long day, and give yourself time to warm up on each stage. Normalizing those shifts in training will help minimize panic when they show up mid race. To combat the desire to quit, Aderholt uses what he calls the “Three-Hour Rule.”
“When you want to drop, give yourself 3 hours of food, water, electrolytes, and slow down before making the decision.”
Steve Aderholt
That simple framework can keep you from making an emotional choice in low moments. For his part, Hardin recommends leaning into mindfulness and knowing that no matter how you feel, good or bad, it probably won’t last long.
“Highs and lows both pass,” says Hardin. “Notice them, thank them, and return to the observer.”
The longer a runway you give yourself to train, the better. Aerobic development takes months, or more realistically, years, so use your early base training to build that foundation through steady mileage, consistent easy runs, and gradual long run progression. Those adaptations last the longest and create the resilience you’ll lean on during a stage race.
As you move into the 12–16 weeks before your event, begin layering in stage-specific preparation: gradually increase overall volume and introduce back-to-back long runs to simulate cumulative fatigue. Your peak block, roughly 4–6 weeks out from race day, should emphasize specificity, training on terrain and in conditions similar to what you’ll face, practicing your recovery routines, and rehearsing gear and nutrition strategies. About two weeks before the race, taper your volume to arrive rested, sharp, and ready.
This sounds pretty cool, never really put any thought into stage racing or even that it was a thing. Any races like this in or near Maryland?
Great read Zoe. Valuable information. I’d like to offer a couple of other resources on the topic of stage running mastery.
1. I won the 64 stage, 3000 mile 1992 Runner’s World Trans America Footrace and wrote the following article for Ultrarunning Magazine, “So You Want to Cross the Trans America Finish Line?.” You need to be a subscriber to the magazine to access the article.
2. I coached Joel de Blonk, in his 10 1/2 day, multi-day, stage run across South Dakota in 2020. It is documented in the PBS Documentary called “Dirtbagging Dakota.” It can be accessed for free on the net by googling the title.
Great article Zoe. Thanks for the information. I can use it in my training.