Inside the weekly routine of an elite trail and ultra-endurance runner
Ava Durgin is the former Assistant Health Editor at mindbodygreen. She holds a B.A. in Global Health and Psychology from Duke University.talks about running, she doesn't frame it in extremes.
There's no sense of chaos or all-out suffering as the defining feature of her sport, even though she competes in one of the most punishing disciplines in endurance athletics: 100-mile trail races across mountains, heat, elevation, and night. Instead, her world is built on structure, repetition, and recovery that is just as intentional as the training itself.
That consistency has carried her into the top tier of ultra-runners globally, earned her a spot on theglobal elite athlete team, and made her one to watch heading into this year's Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, where she has finished second two years running. Ask her what stands behind results like that, and she doesn't point to a single turning point or a training block that changed everything. She points to accumulation.
"I think it has been a process of consistent effort and gradual accumulation over time," she says. "My deep passion for the sport is what has brought me to this level. " That idea—of progress built slowly and sustained carefully—runs through everything she does, from her weekly mileage to her nutrition and the 30 minutes she spends with a foam roller every night before bed. Xiang is a full-time trail runner, and her training reflects the scale of her goals.
Under her coach's guidance, she logs between 400 and 500 kilometers per month, alternating long endurance runs of 30 to 40 kilometers with shorter 10-kilometer speed sessions. Two to three days a week, she adds light strength work at the gym. It's a high-volume structure, but what defines it isn't just the numbers—it's the specificity baked into every week.
Right now, in preparation for Western States, she intentionally trains during the hottest part of the day to simulate the brutal California heat she'll face on course. The goal isn't only to build fitness. It's to normalize discomfort before race day ever arrives. And yet, for all that volume, Xiang is careful not to treat training as a constant push.
"In training, I try not to overconsume my physical energy," she says. That restraint is part of the strategy. It's what allows her to repeat high-output weeks month after month without breaking down, and it's what makes recovery not a reward at the end of hard work, but a scheduled part of the work itself.follows the same level of intention.
She works with professional therapists for massage and muscle release about three times a week, and in the evenings, she keeps a consistent ritual of about 30 minutes on the foam roller, focusing on her feet and legs.accumulate over months of training, recovery is what allows the work to actually take hold. Xiang talks about recovery not as something that fixes today’s fatigue, but as something that helps her “extend her athletic career,” a phrasing that reflects how far ahead she’s thinking.
Not in workouts or weeks, but in years. In ultra-trail running, mental strength matters more than physical capacity. And when the hardest moments of a race arrive, her internal dialogue shifts outward. She reminds herself of what she represents, not just as an athlete, but as part of a wider movement.
"I remind myself that I represent female runners and am an inspiration to others," she says. "As an elite runner from China, I also want to give more visibility and awareness to the growing trail-running culture in China. " She also draws from the people in her corner: sponsors, family, friends. "Their support and encouragement give me the motivation to keep going.
" In a sport that looks, from the outside, like solitude, Xiang's mindset makes endurance feel like a collective act. Her definition of success reflects the same long-view thinking. For someone competing at this level, it's notably unanchored from results.
"Success can mean learning valuable lessons from a race, gaining experience, or simply enjoying the course with friends," she says. As an elite runner from China, I also want to give more visibility and awareness to the growing trail-running culture in China. Xiang’s approach to fueling is grounded in simplicity and repeatability. Off the course, her diet stays steady.
Fruits like blueberries and avocados, vegetables, and lean protein form the core of what she eats day to day. Race day is where the focus shifts, and her fueling becomes purely functional. She relies on fruit-flavored energy gels and noodles, and she sticks to a consistent rhythm of replenishing energy every hour.
In longer efforts or harsher conditions, like overnight sections or extreme heat and cold, she makes targeted adjustments with caffeine or electrolytes. ultras or not, the goal isn't a perfect diet; it's a dependable one. Something you can come back to again and again without thinking twice. Off the trail, Xiang climbs, cycles, and makes time for friends—a life that, by design, contains more than performance.
When asked how she stays connected to why she started running, her answer is uncomplicated: "It's about always staying passionate and never forgetting why I started. I have always loved moving through the mountains.
" That connection to terrain, rather than to outcome, is the throughline of her entire story. , the story often gets told in miles. For Xiang, it's told in repetition, in recovery, and in the decision to keep showing up—until consistency becomes something close to mastery.
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