Charity Partner
Official Bike Retailer
Coaching
Photographer
Hill Running by Richard Pady
I believe that for most recreational runners (which is what most of us are), running hills is a much easier and less stressful way to improve than doing speedwork on a track. I am not advocating repeated sprints up a single hill. Although this has its benefits, it is very stressful and is much more like formal track sessions than what I am suggesting.
What I am suggesting is running over undulating routes at least a few times each week. Put some effort into the uphills. Run them with an exaggerated knee lift and try to push off hard with your ankles. The steeper the hills the more exaggerated should be the knee lift. On very slight inclines, try to run faster than you had been going before reaching the hill. On steeper inclines, concentrate more on vertical than on forward movement. On the steepest hills try to lift your knees high enough that at the top of the motion your thighs are horizontal. You will get tired, but it is a less damaging tiredness than that caused by more serious speedwork. Running uphill you will not hit the ground as heavily as when running hard on the flat or downhills. The tiredness will be muscle fatigue rather than muscle damage.
The hills should be long rather than short. Each should take at least a couple of minutes to run. Even for long steady climbs of 800m or more I exaggerate my knee lift somewhat and try to keep up a good pace all the way to the top. Use the flat and downhill sections of the run for recovery.
What if you live in a flat place like Windsor? Try doing steps or using a Treadmill. If you use a treadmill be VERY careful of your calves. If it is your first time on a treadmill running hills start at only a 2-3% grade and for no more then 2 minutes on each repeat.
How often should you run undulating/hilly workouts?
Try adding one workout per week for starters. Also try creating workouts that have you running mostly downhill for the first half and uphill on the way home. I live near the Hockley Valley and I have a great one hour run that drops 250m from HWY 10 to Airport road. I try to even split run with the first half of the run at an easy pace and the second half I push all the hills coming home.
After a while your response to hills should become automatic. As soon as your body senses it is going up an incline you will start to stride out more purposefully. You will still get tired, but you will begin to treat hills as friends rather than as enemies.
What benefits does hill running provide?
One obvious benefit is that you will get better at running hills. This is obviously an important consideration if you run hilly races.
But there are other benefits, even if most of your races are flat. Running speed is determined by two factors:
(i) stride frequency - how many steps you take in a given time
(ii) stride length - the distance you cover with each step.
Although there are various ways of increasing stride frequency, it is not as easy to change as stride length. One way to lengthen your stride is to try to reach further forward with your feet. This is a VERY BAD idea as it leads to overstriding, which is inefficient and also a prime source of injuries. Better ways to improve stride length are to push off more forcefully with your ankles (propelling yourself forward further) and increasing the range of motion in your hips. The strong ankle action and high knee lift that I have suggested do both of these. So these hill workouts should help you to run faster on the flats as well as on hills.
You can also work on your stride frequency on these hilly runs. On some of the gradual downhill stretches try to run with short quick strides. That is, try to get your legs turning over fast. Count your strides and see how many you can take in 30 seconds or a minute. Ease off for a minute or so and then do another 30 - 60 seconds. Taking shorter strides is very important. Not only does this help you pick up the frequency, but it also reduces the pounding from running downhill.
The final benefit of hill running is that it strengthens the muscles around the knees. This can help substantially in reducing the risk of knee injuries. Just be very careful on the downhill. So as the snow is almost gone and the roads are clear try a few hills in your next run and best of luck this summer.
If you have any questions regarding any of these drills or techniques please feel free to contact a coach at Team HR.by email at info@healthyresults.ca
