This week's issue of Feisty 40+ is presented by Wahoo. Right now you can get 25% off the KICKR Run treadmill. If you use the code FEISTY you’ll also get a free Headwind Smart Fan (value $300) at checkout. Check it out here!

🏃🏿‍♀️‍➡️Trail Running After 40: Habits That Protect Your Body and Boost Performance

Trail running has exploded in popularity in recent years. And though women are still in the minority, they are also growing in the ranks, going from 18% in 2013 to 26% in 2020, according to the International Trail Running Association. And I know many in our community are diehard trail enthusiasts.

I personally got into trail running after running my first road marathon in 2004. I found it was just too hard to stay pain (ow, my IT bands) and injury free when I ramped up miles on the road, but had no trouble with overuse injuries on the trails, likely because of the dynamic nature of off-road running compared to the repetitive nature of the pavement.

So a new study on factors influencing injuries and performance in trail running caught my eye, as most of these studies are done on road runners. Researchers from the University of Lausanne surveyed nearly 700 trail runners (about one-third women, average age 40) to uncover which training, recovery, and lifestyle factors predict injuries and performance.

The results challenge a lot of old assumptions. For starters, more training didn’t elevate injury risk. It’s just a matter of smart training load. In this study, higher training volume, more vertical gain, and interval sessions, as well as sleep and passive recovery were associated with lower injury risk and better performance. This trend was similar for overuse and traumatic injury.

Sleep & Rest Are Your Best Protection

The biggest protectors across the board? Sleep and recovery. Women who slept longer and took at least one full passive recovery day each week were less likely to get hurt and performed better in races. The researchers couldn’t pinpoint an exact “optimal” dose of sleep or rest, but the trend was linear: more recovery meant fewer injuries. Getting at least 7 to 8 hours per night appeared most strongly associated with fewer injuries and better performance.

About 81% of women reported ever being injured, compared with 83% of men, but the types varied. Men were more likely to tear muscles or sprain ankles (though ankle sprains were common in both sexes). Women reported slightly more shin splints, stress fractures, and IT band issues—the kinds of problems that can be linked to bone stress, tendon load, and energy availability. I’ll note for myself, technical terrain does pose unique risks. I’ve never faceplanted on the road, but I’ve tripped and went sailing a couple of times while humming along rocky, rooty trails.

Weight was also a clear risk factor for both sexes, but especially for women, likely because extra load on joints and tendons amplifies impact forces over uneven terrain.

So what’s the takeaway for midlife trail runners? Build smart, rest hard. Stack your weeks with consistent, varied training—some intervals, some climbs, some easy flow runs—and respect those recovery days. Seven to eight hours of sleep is performance insurance. Add in a bit of strength and mobility work to shore up tendons and bones, and you’ve got a recipe for longevity on the trails.

🏃🏿‍♀️‍➡️Special Review: Wahoo Kickr Run Treadmill

As a trail runner, I have always avoided indoor training like the plague. Not just because I found it mind-numbingly boring, but also because it also just kind of hurt. Being locked into the same metronomic pace on a flat, unmoving surface was just a recipe for repetitive stress I’d avoid at all cost.

All of that changed with the Wahoo Kickr Run, which I’ve been joyfully running on for the past 7 weeks. Here’s a review of what makes this machine so special.

Outdoor Running in Your Living Room

The Kickr Run feels as close to outdoor running as you can get inside four walls, thanks to both the design and some really ingenious engineering.

A natural-feeling, moving surface: The platform feels like I’m running on my favorite path, firm, but forgiving with zero bounce. You can also enable Terrain mode in the Wahoo app, the treadmill deck will tilt side to side (and if you want up and down) ever so slightly while you run to simulate the slight differences in ground position and angle experienced when running outside. It’s pretty cool.

Wide open space: There’s no bulky console on the Kickr Run. Just a narrow bar with a simple display that shows your incline and minutes per mile pace. Mounted off the back of that bar is a secure platform for your table, phone, or laptop (which makes it an awesome walking desk, too). There’s also no motor cover at the front. So, all you feel is wide open running space.

RunFree Mode: The most unique feature is RunFree mode that allows you to just run as you normally would, changing pace and stride as the machine responds under your feet. I’ll say upfront that this feature–especially if you’re using it for interval work–definitely has a learning curve. But once you settle into it, it’s amazing.

It works by using a small sensor under the display to sense your position on the belt. Speed up and get closer to the sensor, the belt goes faster until you settle into that speed and center yourself on the belt, where it stabilizes that pace. Slow down and drift back, the belt slows, until again, you center yourself on the belt. It takes some practice; I found myself alternating between sprinting like Sha'Carri Richardson and practically coming to a halt before I got the hang of it. But once I did, interval runs felt natural and dare I say, fun.

Simple, Elegant Controls

Instead of buttons on a console (because remember, there’s not much of a console), you control your speed and incline with paddles mounted on the side rails. Just bump them forward to speed up or increase the incline or pull them toward you to slow down or decline the platform.

You can also micro-adjust your speed by either giving the paddle a half press for smaller increments or a full press for larger speed jumps. Or, press and hold the paddle for 1 second increments to dial in a specific pace.

Connectivity

I am not the most tech-patient person. So, I wasn’t sure how trying a Zwift run would go. But, I’m happy to report that it was really plug and play. It was easy to pair the Kickr Run to the Zwift app and just choose a workout and go. The treadmill automatically adjusts incline and decline to match the terrain.

The Deets

It’s not an official “feature,” but one of the things I love about the Kickr Run is that it’s beautiful. I’m not usually a workout equipment in the living room kind of person. But it’s so attractive and inviting, I wouldn’t want it anywhere else.

More pertinent details:

Max pace: 4:00 minute per mile / 2:28 minute per km

Max Speed: 15 mph (24 kph)

Max Incline: +15%

Max Decline: -3%

Belt Length: 69” (175cm)

Belt Width: 22” (56cm)

Right now Wahoo is running a massive sale of 25% off the KICKR Run. If you use the code FEISTY you’ll also get a free Headwind Smart Fan (value $300) with the purchase of a Wahoo KICKR RUN. Check it out here!

🔥 Feisty Badass Athlete of the Week Goes To…

While we’re talking about running this week, let’s give it up for former Ironman champ Beth McKenzie, who at the age of 45, took 2nd at Javelina Jundred (100 mi) in 14:31:14—made all the more impressive by the fact that it was her 100-mile debut.

She also put up a pretty raw, emotional Instagram post about accomplishing this feat with the long shadow of a doping sanction weighing heavily on her heart. She also gives an equally open post race interview where she talks about vomiting and pooping herself en route to that result.

You can’t reach 40+ without some hurdles and heartbreaks. Thanks for the vulnerability, Beth. And congrats on the Golden Ticket.

👉Want a chance to be featured? Click here to share your badass story

Black Friday? Nah
Feisty Friday? Heck yes!

Right now, all of our Feisty courses are 40% off! That includes Feisty favorites like the Strong course, Fueled, and Navigate Menopause. Each course has lifetime access, so you can buy now (on sale!) and do later.

Click here to learn more and save!

👩🏻‍💻 Hit Play Research Round Up

We spend a lot of time scouring the latest research for news you can use to stay strong and feisty forever. Here’s what’s making waves this week:

🚵🏽‍♀️ Physical activity increases total daily energy use. Seems obvious, but some theories suggest that we compensate for the energy spent during our exercise by moving less during the rest of the day. A new study counters that, finding that more physical activity is associated with higher calorie burn, regardless of body composition, and that this increase is not balanced out by the body reducing energy spent elsewhere. One key note: this study looked at properly fueled folks. It’s possible that compensation could happen when you’re underfueled.

👂Midlife hearing loss was associated with smaller brain volumes, accelerated worsening in executive function, and an increased risk of dementia, in a study published in JAMA Network Open. Any hearing loss was associated with a 71% increased risk of developing dementia, especially in those with at least 1 apolipoprotein E ε4 allele. The good news is hearing aid use helps mitigate this risk. Get your hearing checked and address hearing loss. Your brain will thank you.

🧠 Having more abdominal fat was linked to poorer and faster-declining cognitive function, especially in areas like attention and executive function, according to a study in Menopause. This adds to growing evidence that visceral fat accelerates brain aging through inflammatory and metabolic pathways. Keep up those lifestyle interventions like healthy eating, strength training, cardio, sleep, and stress management to help keep visceral fat in check.

What's On My Mind...

Smoking. In another lifetime I was a casual smoker and though it’s probably not cool to say these days, I 100% enjoyed it and if it wasn’t terrible for you, I’d probably be heading out for a smoke break after typing the last words in this newsletter. I actually will still find myself driving along, decades later, thinking, “Boy, a cigarette would be nice right about now.” (Which also speaks to how hella addicting those cancer sticks are!) I have no grand point here, except I do think there’s some innate human drive to alter our state of mind now and then and I have lots of empathy for folks who struggle to kick the habit.

🎧 Listen to this week's episode of Hit Play Not Pause - Rethinking the Rules: Peak Performance in a Menopausal Body

Feisty 40+ is written by Selene Yeager. Edited by Maya Smith. Ads by Ella Hnatyshyn

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