Coach Erin van Eyssen: Find Your Stride—How to Run Smart & Build Confidence on the Trails

 🏃‍♂️ "Forget performance and enjoy it. Run with mates, explore new routes. Don’t look at your watch—spend more time looking up than looking down."

Starting trail running can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. In this episode of Trail Chasers, we sit down with Erin van Eyssen, seasoned coach and founder of Flat Rock Endurance, to break down the best way to get started—without burnout, stress, or unnecessary complications. 

Erin shares his journey from discovering running in his 20s to becoming a coach, guiding athletes of all levels to train smarter and enjoy the process. He breaks down how to start trail running without burnout, the most common beginner mistakes, and why keeping it simple is the key to long-term success.

🎙 What you’ll learn in this episode:
✅ The smartest way to start trail running—without feeling overwhelmed 🏃‍♂️
✅ Why consistency matters more than speed or distance 📅
✅ The biggest beginner mistakes (and how to avoid them!) ⚠️
✅ How to balance running, strength training, and recovery 💪
✅ The mindset shift that makes trail running more fun & sustainable 🌿

 💬 Join the conversation! Share your trail running journey and connect with us on Instagram @trailchaserspod—we’d love to hear your story! 🏃‍♂️🌿 

🎙 Season 3 is sponsored by Gilnockie Socks 🧦
Visit gilnocki.com and use the code TRAILCHASERS at checkout for 20% off your first order! 🎉

📩 Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and let’s hit the trails together! 🎙 

Transcript

Trail Chasers Podcast – Season 3, Episode 2

Guest:  Erin van Eyssen

Episode Title:

Coach Erin van Eyssen: Find Your Stride—How to Run Smart & Build Confidence on the Trails

Episode Description:

Welcome to Trail Chasers, season three, A Beginner's Guide to Trail Running. Last week we talked about how community plays a crucial role in trail running, but how do you actually start running? Today we're diving into the fundamentals of running with a coach who has helped countless beginners take their first steps in the sport.

My guest today is Erin van Eyssen, an experienced coach and the founder of Flat Rock Endurance Academy. He has guided runners at all levels focusing on sustainable, athletic growth, and the long-term development of his athletes. In this episode, Erin and I break down how to start trail running the right way.

If you've ever felt overwhelmed about where to begin. This episode will give you a step-by-step guide to avoid common mistakes and build confidence on the trails. We'll go through the basics, touch on the common pitfalls, and wrap up with Erin's best advice for new trail runners. 

Dean: Erin, welcome to the Trail Chasers.

We've restructured the podcast and each season we're going to do an episode as if we were going on a trail run, we're going to stop every 15 minutes for some interesting fun questions.  and to give you a little bit of a break from my interrogation. So, to start off with, if you are at the beginning of a run or a beginning of a race. What are you doing?

Erin: Trail run, simply happy to get out there. Race, trying to manage the nerves, trying to remember the work I've put in to get to where I am, quietening that voice of doubt.

Dean: And are you a front of the pack runner or do you chase from behind?

Erin: It depends on the  distance and how soon we're going to hit the single track and get backed up. So that's always an important one. But I think starting amongst your peers is a clever idea if you want to not run out too hard.

Dean: This the season one of our sponsors is Gilnokie socks which I am wearing.  So what I'm going to do is I'm going to show you a picture. Of a pair of socks and so this is the picture and at the end of the episode, I'm going to ask you for your two words that will go on the back of your socks. So, you've got about an hour to think about it, but don't let it distract you from the from the episode.

Let’s talk a bit about who you are. What have been the five most pivotal moments in your running and coaching career up till now?

Erin: Okay. Five. I think firstly was finding running myself. I wasn't  super sporty in high school, we did the sport that was mandated by the school, you had to be part of some team, you had to do something, I never really fitted in too well with that. I found running in my early twenties, and it was this thing that relied solely on me and allowed me to explore, and that was definitely the first pivotal moment. Number two was putting in the work and seeing that go from this thing that seemed impossible to this thing that I was okay at and seeing that progression and hard work pay off.

That was special. Three, becoming a coach and making that transition from just being a student with myself as a single project to looking at ways of helping others get better, improve, figure out. their training.  Four was having people trust me with that process having people come to me with the things that they want to achieve and be willing to put those goals into my hands to help, which is a huge honour. It was quite a realization when that happened that  okay, this is an important thing  that people care about. And then building Flat Rock to the point that it is now with having other coaches on board, having athletes perform at a high level internationally and seeing that progress is the final  cherry on top.

Dean: And how were each of those evolutions, from nothing to runner to coach was it a natural progression for you?

Erin: It is the thing I've been most consistent with in my life. I have done different things and had different interests, but I think for the last, almost 15 years now, it has been running.  And that's been a constant through all the other things that have come and gone. And it has been quite special to find that. And each level up or upgrade or change in my relationship with it has gotten better. There was once just me and I just had to run and it was nice and easy and then all of a sudden it was my running and then coaching and understanding it and trying to separate  those two aspects of being a coach, but also just being an athlete myself. it's been a good journey.

Dean: And when was the first time you knew you wanted to be a coach?

Erin: It was probably when I was working at the run store in in Bree Street in town. And we had several athletes at a prominent level working there. And at that point I had done a lot of research and reading myself and realized that I had a bit to share, and I had an ability to make sense of where someone was and what they might need.  And. I had these athletes that were way better than me asking me for advice and I was like, okay, this is interesting space. I've always naturally leaned into helping people and being in that space, so I decided to make a shift and started studying coaching sciences for that specific reason.

Dean: How do you balance your own running and coaching?

Erin: It's pretty tough to be honest. Flatrock is seven years old now. We will be eight  this year. And I had been coaching for a couple of years before that. And it is tricky cause you overthink all these things that you see quite clearly in the athlete that comes to you and  It's quite difficult to have that same honesty with yourself. When you start out, you just run, it is not complicated. The more you do it, the better you get at it to a point. And now as a coach with that information, it's quite a juggling act to balance where I am and where I think I should be, or would like to be knowing what others put in to get to where they are and knowing what I would need to put in. It is tricky and  something I'm figuring out this year quite purposefully.

Dean: And obviously, you've got a business card, and it says coach on it, but in life in general, if you had a business card for your life, what would it say under that?

Erin: Oh, wow. Dad.  Yeah. Probably  coach, dad. Nerd.

Dean: Is that a run nerd?

Erin: Run nerd and just nerd in general. In the traditional sense as well.

Dean: Amazing. And you've obviously worked with a lot of runners, and you've worked across the board with road runners and trail runners. So, you're in a unique position where beginners would come to you to navigate their journey or start running.  So from your perspective, what are the key aspects you focus on when introducing someone to, to running and to trail running, from the get-go.

Erin: initially we need a bit of an assessment as to where they are. Where does an individual stand? Everyone comes to the sport with a different background.  Some have never run before, and their only experience is having joined a friend on a trail run and realizing this is a cool thing. Where some might be, very high-level athletes from a different sport. So, it's about assessing what they bring to the table already with their experience, history, and  then trying to find, what they need to transition into trail safely. So as a, I guess a broad answer would be Finding ways for them to be consistent to get exposure that is specific to their target race or goal. This is something I think Steve Magnus shared; the coaches’ job is to help athletes get out their own way. So, making sense of what they can sustainably achieve in a week  And then laying out a plan that allows them to follow that and stay healthy.

Dean: At what stage of the journey does most people come to you? Is there an average or is it across the board?

Erin: It's across the board.  In trail specifically, there seems to be a lot focused on the Ultra-Trail running world and we need to specify that it’s not all ultras. It's everything from a VK to a hundred miles and beyond, but generally a lot of people start looking for help when the distances get far enough that it also almost seems impossible. And then it's about finding someone that can help lay out a plan that makes  sense of the seemingly impossible thing and bridging those two points. So, a lot of people come in from that 20/30KM distance looking to do a 50KM. And they might've struggled in the first two and now need help on how to make sense of stepping up to that next level.  So a lot of people in that area, but then at the same time, some people who have never run and want to run a hundred miles as their first goal. Like they watch a documentary, or their friend did it and they want to take this thing on. And then some people who would love to run a five K and do it injury free and enjoy it. it’s quite a range.

Dean: How do you manage those expectations right up front?

Erin: A balancing act of I guess providing them with some insight as to their own abilities. In some cases, you're building confidence and, in some cases, you're building respect for a distance. Maybe they've never gone far enough to realize how much discomfort might be in store for them.  So maybe some exposure to said discomfort might allow them to re-establish a timeline for those goals. So not saying you're not going to do it, but maybe this year is not the  best year and maybe putting that out a bit and in some cases maybe it's allowing them to see what they are capable of And maybe that's far beyond what they thought  again depending on who arrives

Dean: We're going to take a little bit of a break now that we have finished our first little section. So, if you're running now and you're by yourself and you're running up a really hard hill or you power hiking up a really hard hill and it feels like it's never going to end, what are you repeating to yourself? What is that mantra that you're telling yourself to just keep going?

Erin: That it is going to end.  Erin: Sometimes in that discomfort, we seem to forget that these things are not infinite, it does end, no hill is going to last forever. It is an anecdote for life as well.  it will end chin up, chest out, pump away and get it done. You can stop and have a cry about it, but the hill's still going to be there. Might as well  keep going.

Dean: And are you someone that does better knowing when it's going to end, or do you just prefer to wing it?

I like knowing, I  Erin: like to break down exactly. where everything's going to sit and what to expect.

Dean: I fall into that category as well.

Erin: It has its own drawbacks. I think it can be a limiting factor. There are people who love the unknown and discovering everything on the day but as a coach that's leaving too much to chance then what I would like.

Dean: All right. Let's get into, the reason we're doing this season, which is Helping people get into trail running and just getting started on that journey because I think, we know that once people get into it it's an incredible sport. For someone that's just starting out , what is the most important thing someone should focus on right in the beginning?

Erin: Probably forget performance and enjoy it, I think generally, there's that Timeline of find the sport, enjoy the sport and want to be better  and then turning point at which it becomes quite metric and performance driven And that can often stunt progress and enjoyment. So I think Finding a way to fully enjoy it while keeping that build up of volume manageable and safe. So run with mates explore, new routes and don’t look at your watch, record it if you need to but spend more time looking up than looking down and I guess focus on yourself. it can become quite a competitive thing against others because we all progress differently and that can also be a deterrent for a lot of people and make it quite intimidating. Most people if you ask them to go for an hour-long hike would have no real concern if they were of average fitness and health yet, an hour trail run can sound quite intimidating for someone who's never done it.  Starting slow, walking the hills, and jogging back down is a trail run.

Dean: And that leads quite nicely into the next question, I think one of the things is you say enjoy it, but then if you're pushing yourself too hard in the beginning, it's not really going to be enjoyable. So how do you assess  that fitness of where you are or where you should start as a beginner on the trails?

Erin: It's a good question because I think there's a lot of talk at the moment about training zones and then needing to be really specific and, training is only valuable if done in the correct zone at the correct time.  Your average beginner is not fit enough to have neat and tidy zones. The act of going up a hill is going to push them into the red. And for them to pursue the activity, they are going to have to get uncomfortable and probably, not spend time in the ideal zones that a coach might want them to. So I think acceptance of that from the start of don't look at the metrics, don't look at the heart rate data, try and keep it at a conversational comfortable pace as much as you possibly can. And understand that is how it will be most of your first few runs, those few weeks of running.  But with enough time and exposure, that fitness will come, and you will be able to keep things easier. And then the metrics start making more sense as you progress. The average person  trying to go up a hill is going to be in the red pretty early on and eight weeks down the line they might be able to run up that hill 15 to 20 beats a minute lower and actually be comfortable and conversational and then we can start working with time in the different zones

Dean: And I think something quite important is that balance between strength and endurance And I guess we all go for the endurance aspect, as a beginner because we just want to run further and further every time. But how do you bring that back to it's just as important, to build up your strength from the get go.

Erin: It really is. And the beginning is probably the best time to do your strength training because running is riskier than time in the gym doing strength work. So as a beginner runner, you're limited by how much you can do. Because of your current conditioning and that builds with time, months and years of doing so but if you're limited to three runs a week, it's a good time to spend two to three days in the gym or on the bike or doing some cross training. We tend to ignore it because we found a love of running.  So we want to run. “Why do I want to go to the gym?”  Which is the opposite almost of the trails. But it's hugely valuable and if done correctly, it doesn't need to be a very extreme thing. Your strength work can be quite manageable.

Dean: And then, to go alongside that as well, as you were saying, when it comes to running in the beginning, you just want to run but  How important is that mindset, and getting into the right mindset and preparing your mind, for what’s to come on the trails.

Erin: Yeah, I think it's pretty important. I don't know if it needs to be done or worked on consciously in the beginning, I think the act of running is one of, providing or finding comfort and discomfort or finding at least calm in discomfort and exposure to that in the beginning is likely to provide results in itself. I do think there comes a point at which you're knocking on both your physical and psychological limits. And then I think conscious work in that headspace is valuable. But I think if you progress slowly enough, and you provide the athlete or as an individual building this for themselves if you provide a safe enough progression in terms of  distance and duration in a given week, in a given run you should be able to keep it at a threshold where you're winning consistently against yourself and the goals in hand and building that confidence and mindset.

Dean: And generally, for most people, would you say step out of that comfort zone? As soon as possible or is it always very dependent on the person.

Erin: I think it's dependent on the person. I think a lot of people find the sport because of their love of going to that pain cave. I think it's quite a spoken about aspect of the sport and there's some big names who are quite happy to go and spend 24 hours in the discomfort but to a lot of people it might be quite foreign and too much too soon might scare them away from it. So I think if you enjoy trail running and you found it and you're listening to this podcast, the likelihood is that you enjoy a bit of discomfort and then, coming out the other side. So, we can assume at base level, there's some of that, but I think it's a muscle that can be trained. And if we balance the exposure to that discomfort and allow the athlete to realize what they can endure and survive and come out the other side  from, I think it's a healthier progression than too much too soon and being scared away. And then you're rebuilding confidence after a big knock. So that might be managing the distance that you expose yourself to, or the maybe it's the vert in the race, or maybe it's how isolated the race is, maybe it's not just a local farm trail run, maybe it's, sky run and you're out there alone, and it's a very different experience. So, I think picking those challenges is an effective way to manage how we progress.

Dean: And, I think one of the, one of the struggles with starting to run and especially starting to trail run is, the confidence in learning those kinds of technical skills that are needed to go from, as you were saying, something like a Jeep track or a farm run to big mountains, so how do you build that confidence or how do you suggest that people start building that confidence?

Erin: I think honesty with yourself, and your abilities is especially important. Trail running is different to road running in several ways, but one of them is that If things go wrong on the mountain, it's quite different to things going wrong on the road. So, if you put yourself in a  position where a rolled ankle means a mountain rescue, it's not the same as catching an Uber home from the promenade because you run ended badly.  So I think being honest with your abilities, building them up incrementally so that you know what you're capable of. You need to trust yourself to not just get to the top of the mountain but get back down again. Maybe that means turning around a little bit sooner progressively week on week, leaning on people with experience so that maybe you're not out there alone when you are pushing your Fitness or at the very least make sure that you're not both pushing fitness and mountain Savvy skills at the same time pick one or the other

Dean: As we wrap up this section, I think it's so interesting that balance between trying to not be competitive, but also trying to run with people and trying to develop, yourself, but then also develop within that framework. So it's a very much a balancing act between a lot of different things. But if you do get it right, it can be pretty rewarding in the beginning.

Erin: Hugely and I  think that social aspect in running with people is a big part of the sport. A big part of the driver and how most people are introduced to it.  Not many people just decide to go run on the mountain alone out of the blue. Most join some friends, join one of the local running groups or weekly runs that might happen. And they are a huge asset in terms of getting into it. But I think it is important to know when, on average, you're training a little too hard potentially as a beginner, which is a more likely case. And further down the line where the group runs might be a little too slow for you, not actually suiting your training. And knowing when to structure them. But there are very few situations where a social run is a negative on the plan. In terms of the averages of a week or a month of training.

Dean: And when you're out there running and you feel that it's now getting to that point where it's a bit uncomfortable and you're pushing yourself quite hard how conscious are you of your form and if it's  slipping or, or it's just I just need to push through this? And how do you correct it?

Erin: Form is a tricky thing to correct in any long or significant endurance event. You're probably better off trying to correct it in the gym with, drills and things like that beforehand. It's unlikely you're going to make any major changes in a run in the pain cave when things are going south.  Ideally, it's more about managing intensity and if your form is failing it's possibly because you're pushing too hard or you're not using a sustainable effort. So maybe adjusting that first looking at nutrition making sure that everything body wise is in order and then dial it back reassess and  get back to work.

Dean And when everything hurts and you're redlining how do you regain the focus or this is where I'm at, this is what's actually going on and this is where I  need to go.

Erin: I think it's a reminder of this is why you came here because that's usually the make-or-break point. I think the point you just described is the reason for most of our anxiety or stress going into an event is do I have what it takes when it comes to that moment that you just described to make the decisions I need to make to have the day I want to have? So I think it's just a quick reminder that you came there to overcome something and that moment is the thing you came to overcome. And I think bringing it back to that and then going, okay. I have two choices now, I tap off, or I get to work and see what I've got. And it's not as simple as that, it might be very early in a very long race, in which case tapping off is exactly what you need to do and reassess. Or it might be at that make-or-break moment where holding on is what provides the results you want in the day.

Dean: it's interesting and important as well.  But as you say when it comes to beginners getting into it, that's why it's so important to, manage that effort and take it slow.

Erin: meet that voice or meet that question when you're ready in incremental amounts and have more wins against it than losses and you'll trust yourself more and more. Either the distance is increased, if that's your goal, or if it's about pushing time and intensity, either way, you're going to come to that same point of what now?

Dean: And, moving on and as we've been saying beginners just want to run and, training doesn't really factor too much into that discussion, but it's obviously an extremely important part of  starting out, it's the best time to, to get into those kinds of habits. In terms of structuring your runs and your routine, to build endurance, to prevent injury Is there like a standard way of doing it?

Erin: So again, there are lots of factors to that based on who that person might be. But I  think at its very core, the very simplest sort of starting point, would be the more you run, the better you become at it. And if that is introduced in a way that is safe then it allows adaptation rather than injury.  For that to be the case, the athlete needs to listen to their body. And it's tricky because a lot of endurance running is telling the body to shut up so you can keep going and suddenly, we need to be listening to it at the same time. And how do we know? So, I think trust in your gut between what is a niggle and what is an injury, what is muscular pain and what is fatigue.  The one is expected and required for adaptation and the other one will stop us from finding consistency. But I think. Focusing on consistency as a number one will be the first point. Can you get out there more frequently, shorter amounts, more frequently. Five days a week for 30 minutes is probably going to be healthier for you than a two and a half hour long run out the gate.  More frequent opportunities to adapt and recover and repeat rather than big efforts that set us back for prolonged periods of time. And then not. focusing too much in  terms of pace and the data but really bringing it back to how do I feel? Is this comfortable? Because the biggest single decider is going to be volume.  If you can get more volume in, you'll see more adaptations. So, create a weekly schedule or layout that allows you to do that in the safest way, recover between your sessions. Staying on top of your nutrition pre, during and post run, get enough sleep and manage your stress.

Dean: It's so interesting because when you say it, it seems like quite lot of different things, but obviously if you're bringing it back to making it more manageable, then those things are not a lot of things, because its lot smaller of a thing that you're dealing with

Erin: Start by doing less, more frequently, in a very manageable intensity, as a single rule, and when that becomes comfortable and no longer taxing, add little bit more, and continue, give yourself enough rest, and, Obviously that's very, dumbed down and simplified, but at its core, that is what is going through my mind when I build a plan. What can we do to keep them healthy and doing this for long enough to  see results.

Dean: I think the interesting thing with trail running is you're obviously increasing distance, but you're also increasing your vert. So how do you balance that and what is the best way to.  to increase your distance, increase your vert and balance the two of them.

Erin: So, I think the single change that can help, and this might be more applicable if someone's coming from a different discipline, maybe on the road running side, for example, over to trail is distance doesn't matter quite as much as time. So your body only understands intensity and the duration with which it was exposed to that. A two-hour run on Table Mountain could be fifteen kilometres. It could be twenty kilometres depending on what that route might look like, but Your body does not care. It was exposed to a stimulus that it will adapt to for two hours.  So an effective way to manage that is to use your weekly training volume in time to manage that weekly progression or how long you're out there for. If you might have a week where you do  2000 meters over 50k and week where you do none, and that might change by four hours, one week to another. Time would be a much better way to manage that buildup. And if you think of your body as a sort of tanker ship that needs to be nudged slowly in directions to change. Whatever you bring in, bring it in slowly. If you've been doing lots of flat running, and the goal race might be a mountain race, where a lot more climbing is involved.  When you bring the climbing in, you might want to dial some of those other aspects back. So that it has time to adapt to that new stimulus and reduce the risk of injury. Vice versa, you might have come from a block of lots of vert, lots of climbing, and now you want to do a super runnable race. Now the risk becomes that repetitive running  And then we would bring that in slowly and transition across.

Dean: And is there one over the other that would have more benefit to a person starting trail running, or is it also very person specific? Or is it a 50 50?

Erin: it needs to come back from the goal event. Are they training for a race that is extremely high in terms of vert?  In which case that's something I need to be exposed  to. More than what is beneficial. I think in terms of safety for the body, climbing and descending is easier on the body than long, runnable miles. Less repetitive more varied in what's loaded and It's much easier to go out and spend two hours.  going up and down a mountain then it is to run two hours flat. So, if in doubt, spend more time sort of climbing and descending.

Dean: I certainly also found that when building as a beginner coming into it and coming not from a road running background.  That the climbing and descending was definitely like the right way to build the time. And build that base.

Erin: It's also the most foreign to any sport that individual might've come from. So, unless they're a mountaineer and hiking is their background. In which case going up and down a mountain is what they do.

Then we would fill in the gaps that they don't bring. Most people don't, aren't necessarily highly proficient at climbing and descending. And probably  what they would have the most to gain. Ability to climb aerobically. And well and the technical ability to descend quickly, your average beginner climbs too hard and descends too slowly relative to their ability

Dean: And how do you encourage bringing in strength training and cross training especially as a beginner starting out, who thinks running is just running. How do you get, the importance of that into, someone's program or into someone's mind?

Erin: It is tricky because, some people want to do all the sports, and they throw themselves at it and some purely want to run. Very often in the beginning runners, when they jump into a training plan might be doing less running than they thought generally against what their motivation might be. So you could sell it as a way for them to get out there and be outdoors more often, even if it's on a bike or hiking whatever, that other discipline might be. It's usually hugely valuable, especially cycling. But I think just the importance of let's focus on getting you active more often  keep the running at a controlled, safe volume and transition across to more running when there's a level of conditioning to support it.

Dean: What does the cross training do to you especially as a beginner?

Erin: So, running is obviously quite a high impact sport. Not necessarily a dangerous one if it's brought in safely enough. But it is definitely limited by the volume one can do is limited by their conditioning, but something like cycling, for example to jump on this bike and do a one, two, three-hour ride, it's a lot easier on the body than the equivalent time spent running.  Yet it's still building our cardiovascular fitness. So, we can work on the other systems without the limitations that running might have for a beginner while we build that up. And it allows the athlete to move in different dimensions, different directions. Exposure to more than that singular direction that running is generally provides a healthier athlete.

Dean: And, I think it's one of the trickiest things for beginners is the pacing element. And is that  just a matter of experience or are there tangible things that you can do to work on your pace.

Erin: So, experience is huge for sure. And that trust in yourself and knowing what you can sustain for a period of time helps pacing hugely.  Linking back to, beginners not necessarily having very clearly defined zones, just running will take them, to a point of being breathless. But the talk test is the single most accessible and universally Metric to manage how hard you are working at a given time. And it is obviously limited by your respiratory rate.  So how hard do you breathe in Would relate to how hard your heart's pumping and how hard you are moving So if you work back from that you could split your zones up into three easy, moderate, and hard. And you could, say full sentences to your friend next to you while running in a zone two zone one effort, extremely comfortable.  If you were happy to chat, it wouldn't be a problem. Your next level up would be, threshold slash tempo type effort, where you could get out a few words before needing to get a breath. And you  wouldn't want to do that for too long. And then that final, max effort would be no conversation at all, breathing as hard as possible. And I think simplifying it to those three zones for a beginner, you want to spend as much time as possible in that easy one at the bottom, able to talk. Once or twice a week you can dip into those two harder efforts. Heart rate unfortunately floats and won't be, especially in the beginning when everything is almost red line, won't be accurate.  It's affected by temperature, hydration, all kinds of things, fatigue. And then pace on trail where it's rocky or climbing doesn't have an easily comparable method. So, the talk test for me would probably be the starting point.

Dean: And how do you encourage beginners, to manage the mental side of it when everything is feeling uncomfortable and every time you want to quit?

Erin: if it's always uncomfortable and you always want to quit, you're training too hard on average. You probably need to dial it back. You probably shouldn't be running all the hills in the beginning. It's probably why  you're getting taxed, especially if you come from the road where walking is failure, and you enter your first trail race or join your friends in a trail run and try and run all the hills.  At some point it will catch up to you. So, I think dialling back the effort allows you to enjoy the running a little more and therefore be more consistent, have a better relationship with it and do more. the idea behind, managing those intensities in the week is the goal is to do as much as we possibly can.  And if we dial it back and keep it easier, we don't take as long to recover. And then we can do more of it, provide more stimulus, more adaptation, more fitness. So, it suits you in the long run to dial it back and take it easier.

Dean: I think that's such an important principle as well for beginners to learn, when it comes to training yourself in the beginning for trail running, it's that consistency, but also, it's not meant to be incredibly hard and out of your comfort zone in the beginning.

Erin: So maybe that means walking more often. Maybe that means. It's just calling it a hike and running back down again; whatever you need to frame it to keep it easy.

Dean: And it won't last forever. And, to come into a little bit of a break now when you're out running and, you've been on the trails for quite a while what is in your pack that you're reaching for?  When you get to that three, four hours. And everything hurts and you're starving.

Erin: fresh water with no sugar in it. Obviously, we need the carbs. But I think my, my go-to is generally just cold, fresh water. After enough gels and carb drinks.  Just something else.

Dean: And food wise?

Erin: food wise I personally struggle to eat. To be honest, so salted baby potatoes are probably all that's going to go down.

Dean: I think as a beginner, that's another important tip eat salted baby potatoes.

Erin: it's the most easily carriable, digestible, palatable, single item.

Dean: There is so much data out there already, around beginners and getting into trail running  and the mistakes that are made. And people obviously keep making them. So, to try and get people not to be making them, what are the biggest mistakes people make when they're starting out?

Erin: Number one is running too hard on average. So, intensity, I know we've touched on that topic a few times today. I think running too hard either in a pursuit of peer pressure or wanting to perform at a certain level off the bat, so running too hard not listening to the body, ignoring cues that are likely to be, future injuries earlier on.  And then as that distance builds, nutrition is significantly neglected. They have limits that are purely nutritional. With a bit of food on board, they can do a lot better.

Dean: And I think another thing that's not talked about enough is the importance of shoes. I think as a beginner, you're either going, the cheapest or you're going whatever your friend wears or, whatever looks cool. How important is that to that beginning or any stage of your running.

Erin: Yeah, I think you, you need shoes that fit well. Number one, I don't know if it sounds like a simple thing, but on average people are not wearing shoes correctly. They tend to on average purchase shoes that are too small. And if you're out there for a few hours, we need it to still fit you when your feet have swelled up and not as happy.  So getting that size correct is more important for me than even whether you're using a road or trail shoe. You can run a lot of trails on road shoes, so I would say to start off, run. Run in the shoes you have, learn about how you feel in them and that'll inform you as to what you might need when you purchase something else or  what you might like.  You don't need to buy the most expensive shoes out there. It's not necessary. You need something that's durable with a decent amount of grip. if you're coming from the road, looking at Something that is similar to what your body is currently used to.  So if that's a lower drop or a higher drop, try and replicate that where you can. But you don’t need the fanciest shoe out there to get started. You need a good fitting pair of shoes with some tread.

Dean: And I think we've chatted about it before, but it's also like, where are you running and what races are you looking at?

Erin: I think if it's very runnable, your road shoes will be fine. If you're going to jump into Newlands Forest and run those jeep tracks and some of the connecting single tracks, you can probably get away with it in your road shoes. They'll probably take a beating. So, you'll probably want to change them at some point.  So you're not going through shoes quite as frequently. And if you're getting into more technical stuff where you might be doing some scrambling or much rockier technical routes, then, a decent trail shoe will start to be required.

Dean: And overtraining. How do you encourage people to pull back on overtraining?  And how do you get that balance between running often but not running too much.

Erin: So, I think being honest with yourself is important. A lot of us are not, and we believe that we're superhuman until our body forces our hand and we are forced to stop due to injury or illness or something.  You could track metrics like resting heart rate or heart rate variability which can give you insight into whether you are overtraining, but before you even complicate it with that level of insight, I think just checking in with yourself every now and again and asking am I feeling okay today?  Am I recovered from yesterday? Have I taken two, three rest days and I'm still feeling tired and fatigued? I think trying to notice patterns in yourself and how long it takes you to bounce back from different efforts will help you understand this and if you have a coach, being honest with them about how you feel. It is not a weakness to say that you're tired and need a break.  Saying that  earlier is probably helpful and managing intensity, dialling back, taking it easier more often not running everything hard. And scheduling in rest before you need it is often helpful. If you don't schedule it, the body will schedule it itself.

Dean: And are there noticeable signs that beginners can pick up on that they've over trained or that, it's often you're like, oh, I'm tired because I never could sleep last night or something like that,

Erin: so, we need fatigue. Fatigue is what the body is adapting to.  You've loaded it. It doesn't want to be loaded to that level again. It provides adaptations to bring you back to homeostasis or balance. So, there will be fatigue, and it's expected. It shouldn't last days and days. It should be something that, with some easier running days or recovery days, you feel back to your old self.  If we do not achieve that, it's probably worth looking at what's going on. In terms of other things, muscle pain is to be expected. We expect some muscle breakdown and rebuilding to  happen. Joint pain, aches, tendon, and ligament pain might appear on bigger days in terms of distance or intensity, if it settles itself within a couple of days of lower volume or rest, then generally good.  But if It is week on week, it's persistent, getting worse, never fully going away. those are the signs that something needs to be checked out.

Dean: And obviously, discouragement is quite a big one when you start, cause as we've said before, everything feels hard and difficult. What is the golden nugget to provide to people that it's going to get better, but obviously it's easier to say that than actually believe it.

Erin: I think if you bring the focus back to why they found the sport in the 1st place, it's really helpful. It's easier to become discouraged when it's very performance based and metric based because it does take time. As a beginner, your first 16 weeks are going to be uncomfortable. Before you have  fitness to show for all the hard work you've put in. And if every week you're looking at stats and you're actually going backwards because you're more tired than you are fit in the first few weeks generally.  It's problematic, but you probably found the sport because you enjoy moving through wild spaces. And if you can get rid of the metrics and just move, set your watch up so that all you can see is time, not distance, not vert, not pace, not heart rate, and go and move. And allow the body to move quickly on days where it can do so and slower on days where it doesn't want to, and connect back to that, I think it's easier to offset that, lower motivation or discouragement that might creep in.

Dean: And we often talk about building a base. So, what is that? Why is it important? And how, how can you do it?

Erin: So, it's a few things. It's your exposure to that sport or stimulus is your base. And that might be years overall, it also might be short term. Often there's a base phase and a buildup to an event, which  might be exposing you to lots of easy effort volume to build your base or your aerobic base is what it would be called. But as I said, it's also your running age. So, as a beginner, your base is pretty low, and that base then also limits what type of workouts and what other.  Efforts we could expect the body to manage. So, the bigger the base, the more exposure you have had to lots of easy effort volume and the more room we have to add on higher intensity workouts and volume at higher intensity and things like that. So, building your base is something that you do in the short term.  For maybe two or three months in the buildup to an event, but also how long you've been training overall.

Dean: I want to ask an interesting question, and I think it tells a lot about a person, when you're out running and the rain comes down, where are you going? Are you pushing through or are you heading back down the mountain?

Erin: I love it. Bring it.  Erin: Ideally it happens when I'm already running starting in the rain is a different experience,  but if I'm out there and I'm warmed up and it starts pelting down just Bring it, give me your best, let's go.

Dean: And are you winter or summer?

Erin: I am more winter. Give me snow, sleet, and rain I struggle in the heat.

Dean: I was chatting to someone today about the beginner stage, and I think it's a lot easier to manage the effort in the rain than it is in the heat.

Erin: Absolutely. Conditioning for the heat or exposure to that and management of that is very much fitness related. So, the fitter you are, the less the heat will influence you, given the intensity. And for most beginners, as I said, they're already likely to be in the red the moment they start moving.  You add heat to that, and it gets exponentially harder. So, winter helps but obviously comes with its own safety issues in the mountain and awareness of that and comfort there.

Dean: if they had the opportunity, would you then advise people to start running in winter?  Obviously it's, when you start is when you start, but is it a better place to, to start?

Erin: I think in Cape Town; it allows you a little bit more freedom as to when you run. As a beginner running at, 10, 11 in the morning, in the middle of summer, it's going to be hard going.  Winter will be a lot more forgiving on that. So, it could at least ease that in. At its core though, it's managing your intensity. So, if it's super-hot and you listen to your body and don't try and run a pace that you thought you could do on a cooler day, the heat is manageable.

Dean: And, closing off, when you look back at, your journey and look back to when you first started running and coaching.  is there anything you would tell yourself or say to yourself, on the running side and obviously on the coaching side.

Erin: So, probably stay consistent. I think I go all in on things and when it was just me running,  all energy went into that and, other things came up.  business Parenthood and stuff. It was quite difficult to balance those. I think if I had maintained consistency, even if it wasn't huge amounts of volume. I think I would have appreciated that  in running. In coaching.  I don't know. I think I would have been less stressed back then, taking on people and the weight that comes with that. If I knew it would become what it is. And I would feel as comfortable doing it as I have become. I could have saved myself a little anxiety.

Dean: obviously, you love, the running and you love the coaching. What is that rewarding, thing that, that keeps you going, keeps you coming back on both the, the running side and the coaching side?

Erin: On the running side, I guess it's that finding that flow state or those days where it all just clicks and works. It might not be a PB, it might not be your fastest because we all get older and things change and what you  can achieve, but that feeling of effortlessness and in the sweet spot of being able to hold an intensity for, What feels could be forever. That pursuit is the single greatest for me.

And as a coach, I think that being lucky to be able to experience what I experienced as a single runner, pursuing goals and walking that path with people is extremely rewarding. I think, as a runner alone, you get to do it for yourself as a coach. You get to experience it every week,

Dean: No, I can imagine. It must be rewarding.

Erin: it has its highs and lows., with bad days too and you ride those and get those as well.

Dean: it's nice to take a break from achieving your own things to then Being able to celebrate other people achieving things and it's like you must do it rather than oh, I'm happy for you, my friend.

Erin: and it's cool It's you have to because you're their coach and I mean you're paid to do this But also you do become invested you do see their growth And it is a  very real investment that you have in the success.

Dean: And we did chat a bit about it, but on next episode in the series is all about shoes and we've actually got Jono from the run store coming in to chat to us. what is the biggest mistake people making when it comes to, choosing your first pair of shoes?  And then also, how important is it to get someone like Jono to help or pop into, to the run store?

Erin: it can save you a lot of headaches by getting fitted correctly off the bat. Price of shoe irrelevant, I think getting something that fits you correctly. You don't need to run Ks in them to realize that they don't work.  At which point you can't change them and then start again. So going to a store that have, valuable experience in that fitment and can take you through that process is hugely valuable. Biggest mistake is people looking at shoes and thinking they need a whole lot of tread.  Something that looks like a soccer boot, unless you're running in really soft mud, you don't need super big lugs. You need something with a bit of protection. Moderate  depth or size. And are close enough to what you know, to not be too much of a shock to the body.

Dean: And, looking forward for you, for yourself, is there, bucket list things that you want to achieve on the running side, the coaching side, what is the five year or one-year plan.

Erin: With own running I took most of last year off and I'm really getting back into it with a renewed sort of vigour and the appreciation for the sport. So, I have a couple of PBs that didn't get a lot of attention 10 years ago that I could probably revisit. So, I'll probably be doing a bit of work on that personally.  And then in terms of Flat Rock, I think just, start, looking into more ways that we can, be helpful and assist people we work with. Expanding our knowledge base. We have some good coaches on board. So, looking at ways of upskilling them as well as just offering more to the people we work with.

Dean: And, coming back to the beginning of the interview, I asked you about the  socks. Have you had a chance to think of what you would want on your socks?

Erin: it's written on the back of the sock. So visible to people behind you. Yes. Keep up.

Dean: Love it. Keep up, Thank you very much.  That was amazing. Thank you so much for joining me and I really appreciate you taking the time and giving us some of your guidance.

Erin: Absolute pleasure. Thank you for having me.

Dean: Pleasure.

🔑 Key Takeaways from This Episode:

✅ Why it’s important to enjoy running before chasing performance

✅ How to assess your fitness honestly as a beginner and build sustainably

✅ The role of strength training early on to prevent injury and support long-term growth

✅ The mindset needed for trail running and how to build confidence over time

✅ Why running with others, exploring new trails, and embracing the unknown helps beginners stay consistent and motivated

Connect with Erin: 

• Follow Erin on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erin_van_eyssen/

• Follow Flat Rock on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/flatrockendurance/

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