Mastering Ultra Running: Insights from Paul Tierney

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Mastering Ultra Running: Insights from Paul Tierney

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Share with us your thoughtsWhy does injury so rarely arrive the way you expect it to?Ankle sprains that quietly change how you move years later. Knee pain in elite athletes that isn't really about "bad form." A right way to run that, on closer inspection, doesn't really exist.In this episode of the VOOM Performance Podcast, running rehab specialist and coach Paul Tierney joins Mel Berry to unpack one of the trickiest problems in endurance sport: why injuries happen, why they're rarely as simple as "you're moving wrong," and what to actually do about it.This is a deep, practical conversation about treating running as a movement skill that's continually refined rather than something fixed with a cookie-cutter drill. Paul talks through the polarised (80/20) training debate and where it breaks down for time-poor athletes, whether back-to-back long training days are worth the injury risk, why so many elite runners seem to pick up knee injuries around the same time, and the role of "movement degeneracies" - the subtle variations in how your foot hits the ground that keep you robust over decades of running. He also answers a series of listener questions from Matt, a 58-year-old masters athlete, on cycling as cross-training, isometric versus traditional strength work, and ageing as a runner.Paul is a coach and running rehab specialist with over 20 years of experience, a former Wainwrights record holder and Lakeland 100 winner, and a former inter-county hurler with Cork in his native Ireland. He runs Missing Link Coaching in Ambleside, Cumbria, alongside his partner and fellow international mountain runner Sarah McCormack, and also works out of a physio clinic in the Lake District one or two days a week, specialising in the technical and physiological development of trail and road runners.Whether you're managing a current niggle, trying to figure out how much of your training week should be easy versus hard, or just want a more useful mental model for injury than "fix your form," this episode has something for you.In this episode you'll learnWhy running is better treated as a movement skill to keep refining than a "correct" technique to installWhat the 80/20 polarised training debate actually means for someone with limited hours in the weekWhether back-to-back long training days help or hurt when you're training for a 50k-plus ultraHow cycling can be used to build engine and manage injury risk as a masters athleteIsometric versus traditional strength training, and why "run-specific ISOs" can be a powerful (if divisive) toolWhy so many elite athletes seem to pick up knee injuries around the same time, and what "movement degeneracies" have to do with itHow differential learning, varying technique deliberately instead of drilling one "correct" way, can be used to teach pole technique and running formHow to build a simple traffic-light system for deciding whether to train through a niggleWhy you should listenIt's easy to go looking for the one drill, the one cue, or the one biomechanical fix that will keep you injury-free. Paul's argument is that no such thing exists, and that chasing it can do more harm than good. Instead, this conversation gives you a genuinely useful way of thinking about coordination, robustness, and why your body's ability to subtly change how it moves is a strength, not a flaw to be corrected. Paul's straight-talking, no-BS approach to coaching, backed by two decades of working with athletes of every level, makes this essential listening for anyone managing a niggle, building a strength routine, or just trying to train smarter for longer.If you enjoy this episode of the VOOM Performance Podcast, please subscribe, leave us a review and share it with someone who would benefit from Paul's insights.Resources & LinksLearn More About VOOM NutritionVOOM Nutrition creates science-backed sports nutrition products designed for endurance athletes, helping support energy, hydration, recovery, and performance across training and racing.Explore the full range of products at: https://www.voomnutrition.co.uk/Whether you're training for your next ultra, marathon, sportive or open water swim, Voom Nutrition helps you fuel smarter so you can perform at your best.About Paul Tierney https://www.instagram.com/paulmissinglink/Paul Tierney is a running rehab specialist and coach with over 20 years of experience, a former inter-county hurler with Cork, and the Wainwrights record holder and a Lakeland 100 winner. He runs Missing Link Coaching with his partner Sarah McCormack, working with athletes of all levels on technical and physiological development for trail and road running, alongside rehab work out of a physio clinic in the Lake District.Missing Link Coaching https://www.missinglinkcoaching.co.uk/If you're getting into, or already established in, trail and ultra running and want coaching or rehab support, this is where to find Paul, Sarah and the Missing Link team.Research mentioned in this episodeKiely, J. (...

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