Off Season & The Ona Series

I think it's important to have a reset after the year's races are over and the winter sets in: a time to reflect, testing things out, and check you're on the right path.

For me, by the time my last race rocked up, the RIDUM 50k, I was ready for a good long break. It had been a tough year with plenty of setbacks among the successes.

After a bit of meandering, soul searching and plenty of nerdy testing, I'm beginning training again with a renewed confidence in the choices I've made, more so than last year for sure.

With the Ona Series looming, 3 x 100 mile races over 5 months starting in May, now feels like a good time to go through what I've learned.

Core Theme

A big mistake I made last year as I started training for the Wild Horse was still faffing about with shoe choices, fuelling and hydration, rather than focusing on the important things: training and the logistics of a 200 mile race.

I'm also prone to "throwing the baby out with the bath water", if something isn't working I rarely make minor adjustments, but change the strategy entirely, usually getting rid of a thing that was mostly working.

Coming out of off season I wanted one thing clear: a plan I'll stick to during training. I wanted to Simplify and Focus, be confident with my choices & feel like I had a solid foundation to work off, making small tweaks as we go to optimise it.

This meant a lot of testing before entering the Build phase of training (beginning in December) & making sure I was happy with the outcomes.

Here's a breakdown of where I'm at on each front:

The Altra Transition

I'd previously stated I was looking to transition back to Altras: mainly due to comfort and the healthier biomechanics of a zero drop platform. I took this seriously and did a 4 week build phase with them: wearing exclusively Altras and going from a 80k week one to a 100k week four to be sure I'd adapted back to the style.

From a comfort perspective they win hands down: I could spend all day in the Mont Blanc Speeds, the Lone Peaks and the Torins quite happily.

However (and with apologies to Altra fan Paula) there are four things that I couldn't quite resolve in my head despite adapting back to the style.

Firstly: the grip, especially in muddier / slippier winter conditions. The Lone Peaks do a solid job with their chunky Vibram outsoles, but are too heavy and flat for me to enjoy running in. The Mont Blanc Speeds and Carbons have a solid outsole, but the lugs are more hybrid focus so are better suited for light trails / road to trail transitions. They suck in the British winter.

Secondly: the durability. Again the Lone Peaks are a stand out shoe and after 700k use are still going strong, they look a little battered but I'd happily do another 200k in them. But again, not a shoe I want to run 100 miles in. That leaves the Mont Blanc Speeds, and these are definitely not shoes that will last a while. Their outsole is uses a Vibram Litebase compound which wears much more quickly that standard Megagrip. I have 500k on my pair and the sole is worn to nubs. Moreover the padding inside has worn away with some itchy holes, and the midsole cushion has fully flattened out.

Thirdly, and most importantly for my fragile ego, the performance: I really struggle to feel as fast in Altras as I have in other shoes. I thought it may be an adaption thing, but I made sure I spent a solid chunk of training in them and still felt lethargic: I think it's a combination of the zero drop platform, which means your lower legs are doing more work, and the shoes having a "flat" feel in general that doesn't aid in propelling you forward. The Torins are the "fastest" feeling and ones I've done some good road PBs in, the Mont Blanc Speed are light but feel quite squishy and soft underfoot which leads to poor energy return, and the Lone Peaks are like running on cardboard!

Finally: availability, I appreciate I have clown feet, but I really struggle to get Altras in my size! If I'm going all in on a shoe for race season I need to know I can get replacement pairs!

Tackling a 100 miles, I want to be in a shoe that feels like it is pushing me forward and aiding me along. I really, really hoped that shoe would be the Mont Blanc Speed with it's lightweight, cushioned midsole and rocker geometry, but it ended up feeling flat, lifeless, and losing decent grip far too soon.

Shoes for 2026

So we're back to this lovely number: the Merrell Agility Peak 5s, the shoes that got me through my first 100 mile race, along with 2 of my PBs in the Pegasus Slam.

They are the polar opposite of Altras: a high drop (advertised as 6mm but feel a little deeper) and high stack shoe, but god damn if I don't feel bulletproof when running in them. They are light, protective, have 5mm of chunky Vibram Megagrip, can go fast when I want and feel like they propel me forward, all whilst having solid durability.

The main drawbacks are a less comfortable toe box, and feeling less stable over technical ground due to the high stack.

These are my main shoe for 2026, the vast majority of my mileage, including on roads, will be in these to prepare for the Ona Slam.

I'm pretty confident in this choice, I tested a different approach and found it didn't work for me personally. When I started running in these again it felt like turning on cheat mode, it was that different.

Alongside the Merrell Agility Peak 5s I'll be doing my hiking and some more technical running in Long Sky 2 Matryx: an incredible low stack low cushion shoe designed for moving fast over tricky ground, whilst being very comfortable due to an unusually wide toe box for a racing shoe.

They lack the cushion I'd want for a 100 mile race, but I enjoy using them so much I want to keep them in my rotation. They'll be my backup shoes to change into if the high stack Agility Peaks cause me issues mid race and I need something more forgiving on my toesies.

Socks

Yes, my friends, I tested socks too! I'll do a deeper dive into this at some point (I can almost hear an eye roll from some folks reading that 😂), but for now I have fallen head over heels for these:

The Danish Endurance Long Distance Running socks: these are the cheapest ultra focused socks I've brought in a while (come in packs of three!) and yet when I tested them they performed amazingly well.

They have good cushioning in the toe box and underfoot, but they aren't particularly bulky so you can lock the shoe down well.

They also wick moisture well, dare I say as good as merino wool does, so I've had rainy runs where I've taken off these soaking wet socks, only to find my toes only mildly damp. Added to that they dry quickly too.

I firmly believe that a great sock can take a shoe with a so-so fit and make it a perfect fit, and for me these have done that for the Agility Peaks.

Hydration

Something I continued to struggle with throughout the Pegasus Slam of 2025 and the Wild Horse; getting my water and salts right has eluded me so far.

I spent a lot of the off season testing different Drinks Mixes, only to find that none really worked for me. All of them, to varying degrees, tended to make my stomach turn after enough time had passed. I've had to accept I just don't get on with sugary sports drinks during races.

Looking back on other races I realised the times that I had managed to avoid nausea was when I was mostly drinking plain water.

So that's what I'm locking into for 2026: plain water in my bottles and SaltStick Capsules for my sodium (215mg per tablet).

This has a few extra benefits I really like from an adventuring point of view: firstly plain water is easier to source (don't have to worry about adding a drinks mix to water you've filtered from a stream), secondly salt tablets are easy to carry (I can carry 20 hours worth in a palm sized pouch) and finally salt tablets are dirt cheap compared to drinks mixes.

Fuelling

On the theme of Simplify I've been experimenting with Precision Hydration Gels and Chews. They have worked for me before during races as a neutral tasting, easy to get down product, and in general I'm finding them a good way to get a consistent flow of carbs in during races.

They are also, however, really, REALLY bloody expensive. So I'm mixing them with real food during training, with a view to that being my strategy for race day.

Training for the Ona Series

Now I've pinned down the shoes, socks, hydration and fuelling, it's time to focus in on the training itself.

On the recommendation of Jon Hares I've been using Albon App: a trail and ultra running specific training program that uses your Strava data to present a few interesting metrics that help with planning your sessions.

It splits your data into Running Impact, Cardio and Speed. Running Impact is taken from running specific workouts, and is based on the intensity of the workout on your muscles, for example running hard downhill will give a higher impact score than running slowly uphill. Cardio is the score across all cardio activities that aid in your fitness (running, hiking, cycling etc). Speed is scored by runs with intensity (basically anything tempo+ pace, and running up hills).

It allows you to select your focus for the next week from a series of options, then tweak the days each workout lands on to your own schedule.

I've been playing with it a lot during the off season to see the types of session it's been giving me, and have found the build is working as desired: a good gradual volume increase with some intensity but not too much.

I have 3 months of base building left, then I go into the sharpening phase to prepare for the first race in the series: the Epona 100.

After that it's recover, sharpen again and go for the Sirona and Divona, and all being well I'll end up completing the inaugural Ona Series with three buckles to my name.

In terms of the training miles themselves: I'm hoping to get out to the mountains as much as I can (which, due to work and childcare, means about once a week at most 😅) and then using the natural hilliness of Bristol to make up for the shortfall.

Next

Shoes locked in, training on track, all I need to do now is stay consistent, listen to my body, and build, build, build.