Endurance TrainingTRAILWISENCT07374016
Evaluation of a Training Recommendation Strategy for Trail Runners.
A study testing Training recommendations GEN, Training recommendations PERSO and Training recommendations PERSO-ADAPT in people with Endurance Training, run by Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne at 1 site in France.
Trial summary
Finding the optimal training, i.e. the training that enables the athlete to achieve the best performance while preserving their physical and psychological integrity, is a multi-factorial issue. Each individual's background and training capacity are very different, hence the need for personalised training. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 65 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Endurance Training
- What is being tested?
- Training recommendations GEN, Training recommendations PERSO and Training recommendations PERSO-ADAPT
- Type of treatment
- Surgery or procedure
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 1,209 participants
- Where
- 1 siteFrance
- Study dates
- Mar 2026to Dec 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 65 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Have no contraindications to trail running (Fédération Française d'Athlétisme test procedures)
- Have been trail running competitively for at least 1 year
- In possession of an ITRA performance index
- Intends to run at least one ITRA-indexed race in the second half of the follow-up period
- Own a training watch, and intend to record all training sessions of more than 10 minutes in their shared database
- Have freely given their written consent.
Who cannot join
- Any person with chronic joint pathologies (e.g. recurrent sprains, patellar or ligament problems) or cardiac pathologies.
- Any person with chronic or central neurological pathologies.
- Any person deprived of their liberty or under legal protection (guardianship, curatorship, safeguard of justice, family habilitation).
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
France1 site
Unités de Myologie et de Médecine du Sport
Saint-Etienne, France, 42055
Léonard FEASSON, MD PhD, (0)4 77 12 03 83 ext. +33, leonard.feasson@chu-st-etienne.fr
Diana RIMAUD, diana.rimaud@chu-st-etienne.fr
About this study
Finding the optimal training, i.e. the training that enables the athlete to achieve the best performance while preserving their physical and psychological integrity, is a multi-factorial issue.
Each individual's background and training capacity are very different, hence the need for personalised training. The availability of data combined with advances in Artificial Intelligence (data modelling and analysis sciences, big data, machine learning, deep learning, etc.) offer the opportunity to refine our understanding of training and adapt recommendations according to the runner's profile for a given objective (achieving a time over a distance, completing an event, etc.). The strategy that the investigators wish to evaluate as part of this trial could make it possible to recommend an optimal training load, as well as the distribution of intensities (as a percentage of the aerobic threshold, anaerobic threshold, VVO2max, etc). The two features are (i) the personalisation will be based on training history, the level of the runner, age and gender, and the runner can focus on training, and (ii) the strategy will be adaptive, i.e. the algorithm will update the training load in real time based on contextual data about the athlete (level of fatigue via heart rate variability, feedback on recent training sessions, feelings of stress).
- Conditions
- Endurance Training
- Being tested
- Training recommendations GEN, Training recommendations PERSO, Training recommendations PERSO-ADAPT
- Keywords
- Trail running, Performance, Training recommendations, Artificial intelligence
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Training recommendations GENProcedure or surgery
Generic training plan that will be created from a platform that is both free and popular, offering training plans for trail-running (The Decathlon Pacer application).
Training recommendations PERSOProcedure or surgery
A training plan that takes into account the rider's training history, in particular the number of hours per week over the last two years, the rider's level, age and gender, the time available for training and access to mountainous terrain.
Training recommendations PERSO-ADAPTProcedure or surgery
A training plan that takes into account the rider's training history, in particular the number of hours per week over the last two years, the level, age and gender of the rider, the time available for training and access to mountainous terrain. Training will also be adapted on a weekly basis according to the following feedback: state of fatigue assessed by questionnaire and heart rate variability; state of overtraining, assessed by questionnaire; degree of completion of sessions.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| GEN: generic training plan group | Active comparator | The GEN group will follow a generic training plan that will be created from a platform that is both free and popular, offering training plans for trail-running (The Decathlon Pacer application). Receives: Procedure: Training recommendations GEN |
| PERSO: non-adaptive personalized group | Active comparator | The PERSO group will follow a plan that takes into consideration the training history, in particular the number of hours per week over the previous two years; the runner's level; age and sex; time available for training; and access to mountainous terrain. Receives: Procedure: Training recommendations PERSO |
| PERSO-ADAPT group: adaptive personalized group | Experimental | The PERSO-ADAPT group will include the same information as the PERSO group, but the training will also be adapted on a weekly basis according to the following feedback: state of fatigue assessed by questionnaire and heart rate variability; state of overtraining, assessed by questionnaire; degree of session completion). Receives: Procedure: Training recommendations PERSO-ADAPT |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Comparison of the ITRA performance index
The main criterion for assessing the improvement in trail running performance will be the increase in the ITRA performance index of users following PERSO-ADAPT compared with the increase in the ITRA score of PERSO and GEN. The ITRA Performance Index (PI) is a tool that estimates a runner's level of performance. The performance index can be used to compare the level of different trail runners around the world and is built on a scale up to a maximum of 1000 points. The top of the scale corresponds to the theoretical best possible level.
Measured: Month : 10
Secondary outcomes (6)
Number of injuries
The number of injuries will be assessed on the basis of weekly injury records, with injury defined as any physical pain or disability resulting from running that prevents running for at least one day.
Measured: Weeks : 1 to 40
ROF (Rating-of-Fatigue Scale)
Fatigue will be assessed each week using the ROF (Rating-of-Fatigue Scale), validated in French. This scale from 0 to 10 with a pictogram gives an assessment that best reflects the perception of fatigue at that precise moment (from 0: not at all tired to 10: completely tired and exhausted).
Measured: Weeks : 1 to 40
RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion)
RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion) will be assessed each week using the Borg scale and a visual analogue scale (VAS). It comprises 11 levels of perceived exertion, ranging from 0 (no exertion) to 10 (maximum exertion).
Measured: Weeks : 1 to 40
Hooper questionnaire
Overtraining will also be assessed using the Hooper questionnaire. The higher the score, the more likely the athlete is to be in a state of physical or mental overload.
Measured: Weeks : 1 to 40.
The '36-12' field test
Objective performance will be assessed by measuring critical speed, obtained using the '36-12' field test. This test, which can take the place of a training session, is carried out on a training track which is usual for the runner, and consists of: a run of 3600 metres, 30 minutes recovery time, then a run of 1200 metres. The time will be measured for each of the runs and the heart rate continuously recorded using the classic training heart rate monitor.
Measured: Weeks : 6, 13, 20, 27, 34, 40.
The 1200 test
Objective performance will be assessed through changes in the duration of the 1200 test: after a 10-minute low-intensity warm-up, the participant will have to run 1200 m on a track at an intensity considered to be "low", recording his speed and heart rate at the same time using his watch.
Measured: Weeks : 6, 13, 20, 27, 34, 40.
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted28 Jan 2026
- Study startMar 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completionAug 2027 (estimated)
- Study completionDec 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Endurance TrainingStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- Longitudinal, controlled, randomised, prospective study by downloading training data and questionnaires via smartphone.
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 1,209 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Leonard FEASSON, MD PhD, Principal investigator, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07374016
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 24CH251
- Acronym
- TRAILWISE
- Status last verified
- Jan 2026
- First submitted
- 21 Jan 2026
- Last updated
- 28 Jan 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 28 Jan 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Evaluation of a Training Recommendation Strategy for Trail Runners.
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07374016
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- TRAILWISE / 24CH251
- Conditions
- Endurance Training
- Keywords
- Trail running, Performance, Training recommendations, Artificial intelligence
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrolment
- 1,209 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint EtienneUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- Mar 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- Aug 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Dec 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 28 Jan 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Finding the optimal training, i.e. the training that enables the athlete to achieve the best performance while preserving their physical and psychological integrity, is a multi-factorial issue.
Each individual's background and training capacity are very different, hence the need for personalised training. The availability of data combined with advances in Artificial Intelligence (data modelling and analysis sciences, big data, machine learning, deep learning, etc.) offer the opportunity to refine our understanding of training and adapt recommendations according to the runner's profile for a given objective (achieving a time over a distance, completing an event, etc.). The strategy that the investigators wish to evaluate as part of this trial could make it possible to recommend an optimal training load, as well as the distribution of intensities (as a percentage of the aerobic threshold, anaerobic threshold, VVO2max, etc). The two features are (i) the personalisation will be based on training history, the level of the runner, age and gender, and the runner can focus on training, and (ii) the strategy will be adaptive, i.e. the algorithm will update the training load in real time based on contextual data about the athlete (level of fatigue via heart rate variability, feedback on recent training sessions, feelings of stress).
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 3
- Model description
- Longitudinal, controlled, randomised, prospective study by downloading training data and questionnaires via smartphone.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| GEN: generic training plan group | Active comparator | Procedure: Training recommendations GENThe GEN group will follow a generic training plan that will be created from a platform that is both free and popular, offering training plans for trail-running (The Decathlon Pacer application). |
| PERSO: non-adaptive personalized group | Active comparator | Procedure: Training recommendations PERSOThe PERSO group will follow a plan that takes into consideration the training history, in particular the number of hours per week over the previous two years; the runner's level; age and sex; time available for training; and access to mountainous terrain. |
| PERSO-ADAPT group: adaptive personalized group | Experimental | Procedure: Training recommendations PERSO-ADAPTThe PERSO-ADAPT group will include the same information as the PERSO group, but the training will also be adapted on a weekly basis according to the following feedback: state of fatigue assessed by questionnaire and heart rate variability; state of overtraining, assessed by questionnaire; degree of session completion). |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 65 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (6 listed)
- Have no contraindications to trail running (Fédération Française d'Athlétisme test procedures)
- Have been trail running competitively for at least 1 year
- In possession of an ITRA performance index
- Intends to run at least one ITRA-indexed race in the second half of the follow-up period
- Own a training watch, and intend to record all training sessions of more than 10 minutes in their shared database
Key exclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Any person with chronic joint pathologies (e.g. recurrent sprains, patellar or ligament problems) or cardiac pathologies.
- Any person with chronic or central neurological pathologies.
- Any person deprived of their liberty or under legal protection (guardianship, curatorship, safeguard of justice, family habilitation).
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Training recommendations GENGeneric training plan that will be created from a platform that is both free and popular, offering training plans for trail-running (The Decathlon Pacer application). | Procedure or surgery | GEN: generic training plan group |
| Training recommendations PERSOA training plan that takes into account the rider's training history, in particular the number of hours per week over the last two years, the rider's level, age and gender, the time available for training and access to mountainous terrain. | Procedure or surgery | PERSO: non-adaptive personalized group |
| Training recommendations PERSO-ADAPTA training plan that takes into account the rider's training history, in particular the number of hours per week over the last two years, the level, age and gender of the rider, the time available for training and access to mountainous terrain. Training will also be adapted on a weekly basis according to the following feedback: state of fatigue assessed by questionnaire and heart rate variability; state of overtraining, assessed by questionnaire; degree of completion of sessions. | Procedure or surgery | PERSO-ADAPT group: adaptive personalized group |
Primary outcome
Comparison of the ITRA performance index
Time frame: Month : 10
The main criterion for assessing the improvement in trail running performance will be the increase in the ITRA performance index of users following PERSO-ADAPT compared with the increase in the ITRA score of PERSO and GEN. The ITRA Performance Index (PI) is a tool that estimates a runner's level of performance. The performance index can be used to compare the level of different trail runners around the world and is built on a scale up to a maximum of 1000 points. The top of the scale corresponds to the theoretical best possible level.
6 secondary outcomes
Number of injuries
Time frame: Weeks : 1 to 40
ROF (Rating-of-Fatigue Scale)
Time frame: Weeks : 1 to 40
RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion)
Time frame: Weeks : 1 to 40
Hooper questionnaire
Time frame: Weeks : 1 to 40.
The '36-12' field test
Time frame: Weeks : 6, 13, 20, 27, 34, 40.
The 1200 test
Time frame: Weeks : 6, 13, 20, 27, 34, 40.
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 28 Jan 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Leonard FEASSON, MD PhD principal investigator
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Training recommendations GEN, Training recommendations PERSO and Training recommendations PERSO-ADAPT in people with Endurance Training, run by Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne at 1 site in France.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 6 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 28 Jan 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in France. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Leonard FEASSON, MD PhD ((0)4 77 12 03 83 ext. +33, leonard.feasson@chu-saint-etienne.fr), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Comparison of the ITRA performance index (time frame: Month : 10). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 28 Jan 2026.